Chinese military spending might match that of the US by the 2030s but it will be decades before it rivals the United States as a military superpower, a London-based think tank said Wednesday.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) released The Military Balance 2014, an annual study of global military capabilities and defense spending, at a press conference on Wednesday.

Asian defense spending was still growing after surpassing Europe in 2012, said IISS Director-General John Chipman.

Asian defense spending in 2013 was 11.6 percent higher than in 2010 in real terms, the report said. The largest absolute spending increases in the past year were in East Asia with China, Japan and South Korea leading the pack.

"These outlays are fuelling heightened military procurement in a region replete with conflicting territorial claims as well as long-standing potential flash points," Chipman said.

The US remained by far the world's biggest defense spender in 2013, with a budget of $600.4 billion, the report said, followed by China ($112.2 billion).

"The United States remains the pre-eminent military power in the world," said Christian Le Miere, IISS naval forces and maritime security expert, "the only one able to deploy substantially."

Miere noted that in terms of globally projectable forces, Western powers would still be the predominant military powers "for decades at least."

Global Times - AFP