BEIJING, March 5 (Xinhua) -- China proposed a 12.6 percent increase in the defense budget for 2005, according to the government annual budget report submitted for review Saturday to members of the parliament, the National People's Congress (NPC).

    "Expenditures for national defense will total 244.656 billion yuan (29.58 billion US dollars), 12.6 percent more than last year," said the report drafted by the Ministry of Finance.

    It is the first that the report was distributed to NPC deputiesfor review instead of being read out at the parliament annual session as in the past years.

    The report added that the increase in defense spending is aimed"to improve the defensive combat readiness and ability of the armed forces to respond to emergencies under hi-tech conditions and safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

    Chinese lawmakers and defense experts say China's expenditure in the military ranks was defensive and not threatening.

    "This is still a fairly small amount compared with (the military spending) of other major countries in the world, in terms of its proportion to total financial expenditures and gross national product," said Jiang Enzhu, a NPC deputy and spokesman for the NPC session.

    The budgeted money will be mainly used for the raise of paymentand social security guarantee for the servicemen, the arrangement of officers and soldiers discharged in China's latest move to cut its troops by 200,000, and the military's armament upgrading to promote the modernization of China's national defense, Jiang said.

    China released a white paper on its national defense last December, and stressed that "it is the sacred responsibility of the Chinese armed forces to stop the 'Taiwan independence' forces from splitting the country."

    The 10-day NPC session, beginning Saturday, will deliberate a draft anti-secession law aiming to prevent 'Taiwan independence' secessionist forces from making Taiwan secede from China.

    The law, said Jiang, is by no means a so-called "law on the use of force against Taiwan", nor a so-called "war mobilization order."

    "On the contrary, this is a law which will promote the development of cross-Straits relations and promote peaceful reunification," he said.

    Chen Zhou, a professor with the Chinese PLA Military Academy of Sciences, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview that China's increase in defense spending will not constitute a threat to its neighbors.

    "More than two-thirds of the spending would go to personnel and maintenance, and only a small part of the military budget would beused for equipment procurement, which demonstrates that China's troops are defensive rather than offensive," he said. "China and its neighbors have been on good terms and that testifies to China's friendliness." Enditem