China boosts security spending by 11.5pc

BEIJING: China will increase spending on police and other arms of "public security" by 11.5percent to $111 billion this year, according to figures released on Monday that showed outlays on domestic law and order again exceeded the defence budget.

The numbers show how vigilant China's ruling Communist Party is against unrest, despite robust economic growth and years of budget rises for law-and-order agencies, which pushed outlays on them past military outlays for the first time in 2010.

The rise in China's budget for police, state security, armed militia, courts and jails and other items of "public security" was unveiled in the Ministry of Finance's report issued at the start of the annual parliamentary session.

For 2012, China set combined central and local government spending on "public security" to 701.8 billion yuan ($111.4billion), compared with 629.3 billion yuan in 2011, when it grew by nearly 13.8 percent. (Reuters)