China says it plans to increase military spending by nearly 18% this year, to 417.8bn yuan ($59bn; �30bn).The figure was revealed ahead of China's annual parliamentary session, which begins on Wednesday.
Just before the announcement, the US released a report criticising China's military spending, and voicing concern over advances in space and cyberspace.
China rejected the Pentagon report as a "serious distortion of facts" that could harm its relations with the US.
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