China on Sunday kicked-off the plenary session of its parliament, the National People’s Congress (NPC), where it announced to increase it’s defence budget to 7.2 per cent in 2023, a slight uptick compared to 7.1 per cent last year.
Also, it set a modest economic target of “around 5 per cent” for 2023 as it braces for several challenges, including weakening demand for Chinese exports, crackdown on the private sector.
According to a report by the Ministry of Finance published on the opening day of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, China will spend 1.55 trillion yuan ($225 billion) on defence this year.
Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang stressed on the need for economic stability and expanding consumption. He also said that China is looking to set a goal to create around 12 million urban jobs this year, up from last year’s target of at least 11 million.
The United Kingdom is all set to unveil a new law to crack down on migrants arriving in Britain in small boats from Europe across the English Channel. As per reports, the law will be unveiled on Tuesday.
Second day of talks between Iran & IAEA: Discussions over weapon-grade Uranium discovered in Iran.