国内英语新闻:Political advisor slashes reports alleging China hiding defense budget

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese political advisor said here Thursday that it was "groundless" that some foreign media reports alleged China had hidden part of defense budget.

Jia Yong, a member of the National Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), made the remarks when commenting on some foreign media reports that part of China's military expenditure might have gone hidden as the country's defense budget growth slowed to 7.5 percent this year.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ongoing annual session of the CPPCC National Committee, the top political advisory body, Jia called such reports were merely meant to draw more attention.

China publishes the national defense white paper every two years, which is more detailed in military expenditure than many other countries, Jia said.

The per capita defense budget of China is the lowest among the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and the country has dispatched the most servicemen and police officers for peacekeeping missions, Jia said.

The Chinese government revealed last week that the country plans to increase its defense budget by 7.5 percent in 2010, compared with last year's 14.9 percent, to 532.115 billion yuan (about 78 billion U.S. dollars).