A convoy began patrolling in the Gulf of Aden on January 6, part of a United Nations effort to protect commercial vessels from pirates working from Somalia, marking China's first potential combat mission beyond its waters in centuries.

"The Somali mission shows China's efforts to undertake its international obligations as a permanent member of the UN Security Council," Huang Xueping, deputy chief of the defence ministry's information office, told the China Daily newspaper.

"Of course, it also demonstrates our confidence in the PLA's (People's Liberation Army's) handling of various security threats and accomplishing of diversified military missions.

"But it never signalled that we were deviating from the defensive policy. We also tell the world candidly that the Chinese defence policy is always defensive in nature."

The United States, Japan and other nations have repeatedly expressed concern in recent years about China's growing military might, and have accused the Chinese government of not being transparent over its spending.

China has in turn insisted that the world has nothing to fear over its fast-rising military budget, sentiments repeated by Huang in the China Daily interview.

"The rise is... in line with the demands of developing our military in a modern way for the sake of national defence," Huang said.

China previously said it set aside 417.8 billion yuan (61 billion dollars) for military spending in 2008, a rise of 17.6 percent from the previous year.

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