BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China's defense budget growth is expected to slow to 7 percent in 2026, according to a draft report submitted to the national legislature for review on Thursday.

It marks the 11th consecutive year of single-digit growth for China's defense budget. The figure stayed at 7.2 percent for 2023, 2024 and 2025.

According to the draft 2026 budget report, roughly 1.9 trillion yuan (about 275 billion U.S. dollars) will be allocated to national defense.

China's defense spending remains comparatively modest across key relative indicators, including its share of GDP, per capita defense expenditure, and defense expenditure per military personnel.

China has consistently kept its defense spending below 1.5 percent of GDP for many years.

According to NATO estimates, almost all its members hit the 2-percent-of-GDP defense spending target in 2025. And they have pledged to further ramp up defense expenditures to 5 percent of GDP by 2035.

China's neighbor Japan has been increasing its defense budget for 13 consecutive years, with a jump of around 60 percent in the past five years.

During fiscal year 2025, Japan's defense spending per capita and spending per defense personnel were three times and more than twice those of China, respectively.

Citing rising global instability, observers predict a further increase in global military spending this year, with Western countries accounting for the bulk of the rise.

China maintains that adjusting defense budgets to meet national security demands is a sovereign right and is keeping steady and moderate growth in military expenditures to safeguard its sovereignty, security, and development interests in a fast-changing world.

China pursues a defensive national defense policy. It is the only major country in the world to enshrine "peaceful development" explicitly in the Constitution and the charter of the governing party.

The country also stands as a staunch force to maintain peace and stability. It is the second-largest financier of UN peacekeeping operations and the leading contributor of troops among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Chinese officials have said that no matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansionism.