BEIJING replica oakley sunglasses, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China said Sunday it plans to raise its defense budget by 11.2% to 670 billion yuan (106.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2012.

This year's draft defense budget is 67.6 billion yuan more than the defense expenditure of 2011, said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the annual session of China's national legislature.

"The Chinese government follows the principle of coordinating defense development with economic development. It sets the country's defense spending according to the requirements of national defense and the level of economic development," Li told a press conference.

The former foreign minister said the growth of China's defense expenditure is "reasonable and appropriate."

"The Chinese government has maintained reasonable and appropriate growth in defense spending on the strength of rapid economic and social development and the steady increase of fiscal revenues," he said.

During the last three years since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, China's gross domestic product (GDP) and national fiscal expenditure showed year-on-year growth of 14.5 % and 20.3 %, respectively, but the country's defense expenditure only grew by 13 %, according to Li.

He also noted that the share of defense spending in China's GDP dropped from 1.33 % in 2008 to 1.28 % in 2011, and that in China's fiscal expenditure dropped from 6.68 % in 2008 to 5.53 % in 2011.

China's military spending mainly comprises the living expenditures of servicepeople, expenses for training and maintenance, and spending on equipment, he said.

The costs for research, experiment Oakley Ducati Scalpel Sunglasses, procurement, repair, transport and storage of all weapons and equipment, including new types of weapons, are included in the defense budget that is published every year, the spokesman said.

"China is committed to the path of peaceful development and follows a national defense policy that is defensive in nature," Li said.

Compared to other major countries, China's military spending is low given its population of 1.3 billion, vast land area and long coastlines, Li said.

While China's military spending amounted to 1.28 % of its GDP in 2011, that of the United States, Britain and other countries all exceed 2 %, said Li.

"The limited military strength of China is solely for safeguarding its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and will not pose a threat to any country," said Li.

He said China is transparent not only with its defense figures, but also about the fact that everything China's defense and diplomatic personnel does is to maintain peace.

"We have made tremendous efforts together with all peace-loving countries and peoples of the world," he said.

By June last year, China had sent a total of 2,044 peace-keeping personnel to 12 peace-keeping zones around the world fake oakleys, and the Chinese navy has sent escort vessels to the Gulf of Aden and waters off the coast of Somalia to protect thousands of commercial vessels from China and other countries, according to Li.