Military budget of the People's Republic of China
Encyclopedia
The military budget
of the People's Republic of China
(PRC) is the portion of the overall budget of China
that is allocated for the funding of the military of the People's Republic of China. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Every March, as part of its annual state budget, China releases a single overall figure for national military expenditures.
The Chinese government's published 2011 military budget is about US$91.5 billion, the second largest in the world and up about 12.7 % from 2010 (US$77.95 billion). This figure would mean that for 2011, China's military expenditure as a percentage of GDP would be 1.4%.
In 2010, the US Department of Defense's annual report to Congress on China's military strength estimated the actual 2009 Chinese military spending at US$150 billion. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
estimates that the military spending of the People's Republic of China for 2009 was US$100 billion, higher than the official budget, but lower than the US DoD estimate.
The last year that many international institutes provided estimates of Chinese military spending in comparable terms was 2003. In terms of the prevailing exchange rate, SIPRI
, RAND
, the CIA and the DIA
estimated the budget to be between US$30–65 billion. In terms of purchasing power parity
, or the relative purchasing strength of the expenditure, the SIPRI
estimate was as high as US$140 billion. The Chinese government's published budget at that time was less than US$25 billion.
A RAND Corporation study estimates the People's Republic of China's defense spending to be higher than the official number but lower than United States Department of Defense
calculations. The defense spending of the People's Republic of China is estimated to be between 2.3-2.8% of China's GDP. This is 40-70% higher than official figures, but substantially lower than previous outside estimates. Nevertheless, Chinese military spending doubled between 1997 and 2003, nearly reaching the level of the United Kingdom
and Japan
, and it continued to grow over 10% annually during 2003-2005.http://www.rand.org/hot_topics/china/ If the RAND study is correct, China could be the second highest spender by percentage of GDP among the countries in the tables below, surpassing Japan and Russia in absolute terms.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies
in a 2011 report argued that if spending trends continue China will achieve military equality with the United States in 15-20 years.
Real volume comparison
People's Liberation Army
China's peaceful rise
Sino-American relations
Military budget in the United States
List of countries by military expenditures
List of countries by size of armed forces
Military budget
A military budget of an entity, most often a nation or a state, is the budget and financial resources dedicated to raising and maintaining armed forces for that entity. Military budgets reflect how much an entity perceives the likelihood of threats against it, or the amount of aggression it wishes...
of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
(PRC) is the portion of the overall budget of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
that is allocated for the funding of the military of the People's Republic of China. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Every March, as part of its annual state budget, China releases a single overall figure for national military expenditures.
The Chinese government's published 2011 military budget is about US$91.5 billion, the second largest in the world and up about 12.7 % from 2010 (US$77.95 billion). This figure would mean that for 2011, China's military expenditure as a percentage of GDP would be 1.4%.
Unofficial estimates
Unofficial estimates place the total amount of military spending for the People's Republic of China higher than the Chinese government figures, but these calculations tend to differ between organizations.In 2010, the US Department of Defense's annual report to Congress on China's military strength estimated the actual 2009 Chinese military spending at US$150 billion. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
SIPRI
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament...
estimates that the military spending of the People's Republic of China for 2009 was US$100 billion, higher than the official budget, but lower than the US DoD estimate.
The last year that many international institutes provided estimates of Chinese military spending in comparable terms was 2003. In terms of the prevailing exchange rate, SIPRI
SIPRI
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament...
, RAND
RAND
RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...
, the CIA and the DIA
Defense Intelligence Agency
The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide...
estimated the budget to be between US$30–65 billion. In terms of purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity
In economics, purchasing power parity is a condition between countries where an amount of money has the same purchasing power in different countries. The prices of the goods between the countries would only reflect the exchange rates...
, or the relative purchasing strength of the expenditure, the SIPRI
SIPRI
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament...
estimate was as high as US$140 billion. The Chinese government's published budget at that time was less than US$25 billion.
A RAND Corporation study estimates the People's Republic of China's defense spending to be higher than the official number but lower than United States Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...
calculations. The defense spending of the People's Republic of China is estimated to be between 2.3-2.8% of China's GDP. This is 40-70% higher than official figures, but substantially lower than previous outside estimates. Nevertheless, Chinese military spending doubled between 1997 and 2003, nearly reaching the level of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
, and it continued to grow over 10% annually during 2003-2005.http://www.rand.org/hot_topics/china/ If the RAND study is correct, China could be the second highest spender by percentage of GDP among the countries in the tables below, surpassing Japan and Russia in absolute terms.
The International Institute for Strategic Studies
International Institute for Strategic Studies
The International Institute for Strategic Studies is a British research institute in the area of international affairs. It describes itself as "the world’s leading authority on political-military conflict"...
in a 2011 report argued that if spending trends continue China will achieve military equality with the United States in 15-20 years.
Comparison with other countries
| Country/Region | Official budget | DIA Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency is a member of the Intelligence Community of the United States, and is the central producer and manager of military intelligence for the United States Department of Defense, employing over 16,500 U.S. military and civilian employees worldwide... |
SIPRI SIPRI Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament... |
RAND RAND RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities... |
DoD United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense is the U.S... |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
$419.3 billion | $475.3 billion | $475.3 billion | $419.3 billion | |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
$58.6 billion | $47.4 billion | $47.4 billion | ||
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
$45.8 billion | $45.8 billion | $42.4 billion | ||
| People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... (PRC) |
$29.9 billion | $90–130 billion | $30.7 billion | $42.0-51.0 billion | $63.0 billion |
| Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
$14.5 billion | $70.0 billion | $19.4 billion | $70.0 billion | |
| Republic of China Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor... (Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... ) |
$7.6 billion | $7.7 billion |
| Country/Region | Official budget | SIPRI SIPRI Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament... |
RAND RAND RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities... |
DoD United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense is the U.S... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
3.6% | 4.0% | 3.6% | |
| Russia Russia Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects... |
2.8% | 4.3% | 12% | |
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
2.7% | 2.2% | ||
| Republic of China Republic of China The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor... (Taiwan Taiwan Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following... ) |
2.6% | 2.2% | ||
| People's Republic of China People's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... (PRC) |
1.4% | 1.8% | 1.9-2.4% | 1.2% |
| Japan Japan Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south... |
1.0% | 1.0% | ||
- Note that this data have been adapted to the revision of China's 2004 GDP. This revision increased China's GDP number by 16.8%, or US$283 billion. These figures were issued by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics following a survey that aimed to gather more accurate data. Service industries accounted for 93% of the revision.
- 2007 military budget is 350.92bn yuan, an increase of only 4.1 yuan per capita
- Due to differences between the countries' budget systems, China categorizes the budget of the 2nd Artillery Corps as the budget of Space Development Rockets, and missile development is included in the Air Science budget. As a result, China and Russia's military budgets do not correspond to those of other countries. Actual military expenditure can be estimated by military equipment inventory. DIA re-estimated China's real military expenditure for 2007, and Pentagon reported to Congress that it will be between US$80–130 billion, at the same as the military spending for Japan, the United Kingdom, and France combined.
Real volume comparison
- The following table exposes the effects of purchasing power parity by comparing the equipment that each country can afford with its budget. With the exception of the "troops" category, the data show only relatively modern and in-use material owned by each military, excluding stocks and obsolete hardware.
| Type | PRC | Russia | Japan | US | ROC | N. Korea | S. Korea |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat aircraft | 2,200 | 2,200 | 400->260 | 4,601 | 400 | ~300 | 300 |
| Tanks | 8,000 | 21,000 | 900->600 | ~7,000 | 900 | 3,000 | 2,000 |
| Submarines | 60 | 60 | 16 | 72 | 2 | 24 | 8 |
| Tanks/Transportation | 420 | 200(Pac50) | 30 | 900(Pac450) | |||
| - | 10 | ||||||
| Troops (in thousands) | 1600 | 400 | 165 | 650 | 220 | 1100 | 660 |
See also
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
China's peaceful rise
China's peaceful rise was a phrase that was used by officials and scholars in the People's Republic of China to describe the country's foreign policy approach in the early 21st century...
Sino-American relations
For the article on U.S.-Taiwan relations, see Republic of China – United States relations.Sino-American or People's Republic of China–United States relations refers to international relations between the United States of America and the government of People's Republic of China...