BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China is transparent about its military spending and there is no such thing as "hidden military spending," a spokesperson said Thursday.

China has been submitting reports on its military expenditures to the United Nations every year since 2007, Zhang Yesui, spokesperson for the third session of the 13th National People's Congress, said at a press conference.

"From where the money comes from to how the money is used, everything is accounted for," Zhang said.

China's defense spending has been staying at around 1.3 percent of its gross domestic product for many years, well below the world's average of 2.6 percent, according to Zhang.

He added that China's total defense spending in 2019 only amounted to a quarter that of the world's largest defense spender, while the per capita expenditure was just about one-seventeenth.