Defense Ministry: Beijing committed to transparency

Responding to concerns that China is not telling the whole truth when it comes to defense spending, a figure that this year will rise by 12.2 percent to 808.2 billion yuan ($130 billion), Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said Beijing was committed to transparency and explaining itself to the outside world.

"We've noticed in recent years that along with China's international influence increasing so has exposure globally to its military. But there are some reports on China's military which are not quite accurate or are mistaken," he said. "So giving foreign reporters this experience is extremely necessary."

The experience refers to a yearly trip for foreign reporters to a Chinese military base, this time to an engineering academy in Beijing's southwestern suburbs.

This visit was the seventh of its kind for foreign journalists and the first visit by foreign journalists to a Chinese military academy.