"China's State Council will submit a proposal to a NPC session to consider approving defense spending for the country in 2008 at 417.8 billion yuan," Jiang Enzhu told a news briefing ahead of the legislative session to start on Wednesday.
Enzhu said the funds would pay for increases in fuel procurements and wages for service personnel, as well as military training against the backdrop of rising inflation.
China's main military concern is Taiwan. Beijing has vowed to return the self-governing island, which split at the end of the civil war in 1949, to its mainland.
Taiwan will hold presidential elections on March 22, along with a referendum on membership in the United Nations. China has threatened a military invasion if the island formalizes its independence.
