China will increase its military spending by 12.7% in 2011 as compared with 7.5% last year Thus, China’s defense budget will make $91.5 bn, Xinhua news agency reported.

However, despite increase in military spending, Chinese authorities want to maintain friendly relations with neighboring countries, said Li Zhaoxing, spokesman for the Fourth Session of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC).

According to the list issued by Global Security website, China has the second biggest military budget among the world states after U.S. The third in the list is India, while the forth – Russia.

This February Chinese Foreign Minister visited Armenia where he held meetings with the Armenian top officials. The sides discussed deepening of bilateral cooperation, collaboration in such fields as science, education, health, culture and tourism.