Second, as of now, their economy is slowing. That needs to be address or their build up will slow down.
And another point is that a growing economy and a growing military are measured by completely different standards. For an economy to be growing at 0%, that's stagnation; it's doing the exact same amount of business this year as last year and it's right on the brink of recession. An economy really needs to be growing to be healthy. A military build-up, on the other hand, is way different. If China commissioned 7 destroyers this year and used the same amount of funds next year because there was no increase in military budget (due to there being no increase in GDP) to commission another 7 destroyers, that is still break-neck speed build-up. Unlike the economy, you don't have to commission more warships every year than last year for your navy to be considered growing. As a matter if fact, even if growth rate technically contracts slightly, going from 7 to 6 or even 5, that's still an extremely fast and robust military build-up rate whereas economic contraction by those percentages indicate an economy in its death throes.
