Faced with slower growth, China will likely prioritize key strategic goals over social and economic reforms, said Antonia Hmaidi, a senior analyst with the Mercator Institute for China Studies.
"Those resources are more important to the CCP's goals of advancing a techno-industrial agenda and modernizing the military," Hmaidi said, using an acronym for the governing Chinese Communist Party.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, who oversees the armed forces, has attempted to force through major reforms and removed senior military leaders including two former defense ministers and the head of the missile corps.
Whether that will reduce the armed forces' influence remains unclear though, and the official Xinhua News Agency ran an item after Wednesday's announcement praising the government for keeping defense spending at below 1.5% of GDP for the last decade and criticizing the U.S. for not cutting its spending.