China's military website had 2.3 million hacker attacks

Earlier, the official English-language China Daily placed the number at 230 million but the figure was soon found to be inaccurate.

Cyber attacks to steal information or disrupt operations are a growing concern for the world's militaries as technology takes on an ever-increasing role. In July, North Korea was accused of coordinating a series of cyber attacks against major government, news media, and financial websites in South Korea.

More recently, the United States said it would create a Cyber Command to oversee the U.S. military's efforts to protect its computer networks from future cyber attacks.

According to the website's editor Ji, the site (www.mod.gov.cn) had been popular with less malign visitors as well, drawing 1.25 billion visits in the three months since its August 20 launch.

It is believed that China's normally secretive military launched its site (www.mod.gov.cn), which is also available in the English language, to allay overseas criticism over transparency and the build-up of its armed forces. China's reported budget on military spending has grown by double digits in recent years.

China's actual defense expenditure is more than the $70 billion reported for this year, which is dwarfed by the Pentagon's budget of more than $500 billion. However, the world's most populated nation is quick to dismiss claims that modernization of its military poses a threat to neighbouring countries.