China will raise its defence budget 8.1 per cent this year, a slight increase over the growth of the previous two years and an apparent effort to respond to a rise in US military spending under President Donald Trump.

The spending increase to Rmb1.1tn ($175bn) was announced on Monday in a budget report presented to the annual National People’s Congress in Beijing. It is the latest rise in three decades of military upgrades that have seen China become the world’s second-largest defence spender. Last year saw a 7 per cent increase.

Beijing continues an ambitious plan to develop new weaponry. In January, the People’s Liberation Army announced that the J-20 fourth-generation stealth fighter had been armed and officially commissioned into China’s air force.