- In 2022, the PRC announced its official annual military budget would increase by 7.1 percent, continuing more than 20 years of annual defense spending increases and sustaining its position as the second-largest military spender in the world.
DEVELOPMENTS AND TRENDS IN ITS DEFENSE INDUSTRY
- China's hypersonic missile technologies have greatly advanced during the past 20 years and many of the PRC's missile programs are comparable to other international top-tier producers.
- China is developing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles and exploring missile capabilities that improve target-selection and make the missiles more resistant to countermeasures.
- In 2022, China launched its first domestically designed and manufactured aircraft carrier, featuring an electromagnetic catapult launch and arresting devices. The carrier will be able to deploy up to 70 aircraft, including J-15 fighters and Z-9C anti-submarine helicopters.
ESPIONAGE ACTIVITIES SUPPORTING CHINA'S MILITARY MODERNIZATION
- The PRC presents a sophisticated, persistent cyber-enabled espionage and attack threat to military and critical infrastructure systems through its efforts to develop, acquire, or gain access to information and advanced technologies.
- There have also been multiple U.S. criminal indictments since 2015 involving espionage by PRC nationals, naturalized U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens from the PRC, as well as U.S. citizens, for their efforts to illegally acquire information and technology to advance PLA modernization.
DEFENSE CONTACTS AND EXCHANGES IN 2022
- In 2022, the PLA largely denied, cancelled, and ignored recurring bilateral engagements and DoD requests for communication. The PLA's refusal to engage with DoD has largely continued in 2023.
- The PLA's refusal to engage in military-to-military communications with the United States, combined with the PLA's increasingly coercive and risky operational behavior, raises the risk of an operational incident or miscalculation spiraling into crisis or conflict.
- DoD is committed to re-opening lines of communication with the PRC to ensure competition does not veer into conflict. DoD's objectives in opening lines of communication include ensuring crisis communications channels, reducing strategic and operational risk, and avoiding misperceptions.
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OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China
