Chinese navy fleet on the Indian sea. [File photo]

Huang also dismissed speculation that China is raising its military budget substantially to prepare for more military expansion.

To strengthen its military power, China has been raising its military budget regularly these years.

Huang said the rise was in line with the "normal demand of China as a developing nation to fill the obligation of a large country, and as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council".

"The rise is also in line with the demands of developing our military in a modern way for the sake of national defense," Huang said.

He said the military budget was for the most part used in raising the living standards of military personnel and to counter pressure from inflation.

The budget will also partly go toward spending for military facilities, which is also in line with current global military development, Huang said.

However, compared with other countries, the rise in China's military budget is appropriate and reasonable, Huang said.

China last year recorded a military budget of 417.769 million yuan ($61.101 million), about 1.4 percent of its GDP.

However, the United States put about 4.6 percent of its GDP into its military budget every year, while France and the United Kingdom put more than 2 percent of their GDP into military spending annually, Huang said.

China would continue to carry out comprehensive military exchanges with other countries and fill its obligation as a major country in the future, he said.

(China Daily January 16, 2009)