UPDATE 1-China's 2019 defence budget to rise 7.5 percent

China's 2019 defence spending will rise 7.5 percent from 2018 to 1.19 trillion yuan ($177.49 billion), according to a budget report issued at the opening of the country's annual meeting of parliament on Tuesday.

The defence spending figure is closely watched worldwide for clues to China's strategic intentions as it develops new military capabilities, including stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles. The 2019 defence spending increase comes as China's economic growth target for the year was set at 6.0 to 6.5 percent.

Last year, defence spending was set to increase 8.1 percent, in 2017 was set at just 7 percent and in 2016 it grew 7.6 percent. The five years before that had seen double-digit increases. China's military build-up has unnerved its neighbours, particularly because of its increasing assertiveness in territorial disputes in the East and South China Seas and over Taiwan, a self-ruled territory Beijing claims as its own.

A government spokesman on Monday said China would keep up a "reasonable and appropriate" increase in defence spending to satisfy its national security and military reforms. Beijing does not provide a breakdown of its defence budget, leading neighbours and other military powers to complain that its lack of transparency has added to regional tension.

Diplomats say China's defence numbers probably underestimate true military spending for the People's Liberation Army, the world's largest armed forces, which are in the midst of an impressive modernisation programme overseen by President Xi Jinping. (Reporting by Michael Martina and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Sam Holmes and Michael Perry)