In an exclusive interview with China.org.cn yesterday, Senior Colonel Wen Bing of the Academy of Military Sciences said China's 2011 increase in defense expenditure was mainly intended to improve living conditions for troops and upgrade equipment.

China plans to raise its defense budget by 12.7 percent to 601 billion yuan (US$91.5 billion) in 2011, compared with an increase of 7.5 percent last year.

Wen said the figures had attracted comment at home and abroad. But he maintained that the increased spending, expected to be maintained over a period of years, was reasonable.

He said the new money would be mainly used to maintain military facilities, boost soldiers' pay and conditions, and upgrade equipment.

--? Maintenance of facilities: China has 22,000 kilometers of land borders and 18,000 kilometers of coastline. Maintaining military facilities along such extended borders requires a huge amount of money.

--? Improving the standard of living of officers and soldiers: The living conditions of rank-and-file troops are still backward. Frontier forces and troops in high-altitude areas such as the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province have difficulties with basics such as drinking water, heating and medical treatment. And increases in the prices of food and household goods mean soldiers' salaries must increase accordingly.

--? Upgrading equipment: The PLA is transitioning from a mechanized to an informationized force and this obviously implies increased expenditure. This is a process that Western armed forces have already completed.

Earlier this month, China's military leadership announced that salaries of armed services personnel will be raised by between 5 and 40 percent depending on rank and service branch.

Last week, the People's Liberation Army announced it was relaxing its policy on allowing family dependents to accompany soldiers. About 100,000 soldiers will benefit from the new policy and will be allowed to live with their spouses and children. To implement the new policy, the PLA will have to tackle a number of issues including building new houses and finding jobs for dependents.

China issued a white paper on national defense on March 31, outlining its security environment, national defense policy and expenditure. China has published seven white papers since 1998 to enhance its military transparency and boost global confidence its commitment to peaceful development.