China's defense spending is "reasonable and appropriate," according to a white paper released on Wednesday by China's State Council Information Office.

Titled "China's National Defense in the New Era," it said the ratios of China's defense expenditure to GDP and to government expenditure are at a "relatively low level" among major countries.

The country's defense expenditure has fallen from a peak of 5.43 percent of its GDP in 1979 to 1.26 percent in 2017, according to the white paper.