Beijing, China - China on Tuesday said that its defense spending was "entirely necessary" after Russian President Vladimir Putin backed a proposal by his US counterpart, Donald Trump, for the three superpowers to cut their defense budgets.

Russia has massively ramped up military spending since launching its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Spending in China has also increased significantly, as regional tensions bubble and Beijing looks to assert dominance.

Following his call with Putin earlier in February, Trump suggested that he would hold talks with Russia and China in an attempt to secure a mutual agreement on defense spending.

His suggestion was to "cut our military budget in half."

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"There’s no reason for us to be spending almost $1 trillion on the military," Trump said. "And I'm going to say we can spend this on other things."

In a televised interview on Monday, Putin said that Trump's proposal for 50% cuts to the three countries' defense budgets was "a good idea", adding that he could not speak for China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said, although Beijing sees "limited" military spending as "entirely necessary," it was also keen to find a path to peaceful cooperation.

"China has always adhered faithfully to the path of peaceful development," Lin said, adding that China has always "Persevered in coordinated economic and defense development and does not engage in arms races with any country."