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Military budget of China

From Wikipedia - Reading time: 11 min

Military expenditure of China, Russia and U.S. in constant 2021 US$ billions
The military budget of China as a percentage of GNP

The military budget of the People's Republic of China is the portion of the overall government budget that is allocated for the funding of the People's Liberation Army. 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. As of 2025, the official military budget was announced to be 1.78 trillion yuan (US$246 billion), the second largest in the world behind the US.[1]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, China was the fourth largest arms exporter in 2019–23 when it accounted for 5.8 per cent of total global arms exports. Its arms exports decreased by 5.3 per cent compared to 2014–18. The bulk of Chinese arms exports (85 per cent) went to states in Asia and Oceania, followed by states in Africa (9.9 per cent). China delivered major arms to 40 states in 2019–23, but well over half of its arms exports (61 per cent) went to just one state—Pakistan.[2]

Official announcements

[edit]
Official budget
Publication

date

Value

(billions of US$)

March 2000 14.6[citation needed]
March 2001 17.0[citation needed]
March 2002 20.0[citation needed]
March 2003 22.0[citation needed]
March 2004 24.6[citation needed]
March 2005 29.9[citation needed]
March 2006 35.0[citation needed]
March 2007 44.9[citation needed]
March 2008 58.8[3]
March 2009 70.0[citation needed]
March 2010 76.5[4]
March 2011 90.2[4]
March 2012 103.1[4]
March 2013 116.2[4]
March 2014 131.2[4]
March 2015 142.4[4]
March 2016 143.7[4]
March 2017 151.4[4]
March 2018 165.5[5]
March 2019 177.6[6]
May 2020 183.5[7]
March 2021 209.4[8]
March 2022 229.4[9]
March 2023 235.8[citation needed]

The Chinese government annually announces the budget for the internal security forces and the PLA at the National People's Congress in early March.

  • 2014: the budget was announced to be US$131billion.[10]
  • 2015: the budget was announced to be US$141billion.[11] At the same time, the Chinese government estimated the Chinese economy to grow 7% in 2015.[12]
  • 2016: the budget was announced to be 954.35 billion yuan (US$147 billion), raised 6-7 % above last year's estimates.[13]
  • 2017: the budget was announced to be 1.044 trillion yuan ($151.4 billion), which is an increase of 7% over the last year.[14]
  • 2018: the budget was announced to be 1.11 trillion yuan (US$175 billion), which is an increase of 8.1% over the last year.[15] This was China's largest defense budget raise in three years.[16]
  • 2019: the budget was announced to be 1.19 trillion yuan (US$176 billion), which is an increase of 7.5% over the last year.
  • 2020: the budget was announced to be 1.27 trillion yuan (US$178 billion), which is an increase of 6.6% over the last year.[17]
  • 2021: the budget was announced to be 1.35 trillion yuan (US$209 billion), which is an increase of 6.8% over the last year.[18]
  • 2022: the budget was announced to be 1.45 trillion yuan (US$230 billion), which is an increase of 7.1% over the last year.[19]
  • 2023: the budget was announced to be 1.55 trillion yuan (US$224 billion), which is an increase of 7.2% over the last year.[20]
  • 2024: the budget was announced to be 1.67 trillion yuan (US$231 billion), which is an increase of 7.2% over the last year.[21]
  • 2025: the budget was announced to be 1.78 trillion yuan (US$246 billion), which is an increase of 7.2% over the last year.[1]

Unofficial estimates

[edit]

Unofficial estimates place the total amount of military spending for China higher than the Chinese government figures, but these calculations tend to differ between organizations.

A RAND Corporation study for year 2003 estimated China's defense spending to be higher than the official number but lower than United States Department of Defense calculations. The defense spending of China was estimated, in the mid-range estimate, to be 38 billion dollars or 2.3% of China's GDP in 2003. The official figure was 22.4 billion dollars. 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.[22]

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.[23] Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that the military spending of the People's Republic of China for 2009 was US$100 billion,[24] higher than the official budget, but lower than the US DoD estimate.

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.[25]

Jane's Defence Forecasts in 2012 estimated that China's defense budget would increase from $119.80 billion to $238.20 billion between 2011 and 2015. This would make it larger than the defense budgets of all other major Asian nations combined. This is still smaller than the estimated United States defense budget of $525.40 billion for 2013. However, United States defense spending is slightly declining.[26]

In 2017, the magazine Popular Mechanics estimated that China's annual military spending is greater than $200 billion, around 2% of the GDP.[27]

In 2019, Peter Robertson, a professor from the University of Western Australia, argued that using conventional currency conversion as opposed to more accurate "purchasing power parity" (PPP) exchange rates dramatically understated China's military capabilities and that China's real military spending was equivalent to US spending of $455 billion, calculated from a PPP perspective.[28]

In 2023, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated the China's military spending is $296 billion which accounted for 1.7% of the country total GDP. [29]

A 2024 study by Taylor Fravel, George J. Gilboy, and Eric Heginbotham estimated China's total military spending for 2024 at US$471 billion.[30]

Comparison with other countries

[edit]
Absolute expenditures in USD
Country/Region SIPRI (2023)[31] Official budget (2014) IISS (2013)[32]
United States $916.0 billion $575 billion [33] $560.4 billion
China $296.0 billion $131 billion[34] $111.2 billion
Russia $109.0 billion $69.3 billion[35] $68.2 billion
United Kingdom $74.9 billion $56.9 billion[36] $57 billion
Japan $50.2 billion $47 billion[37] $51 billion

See also

[edit]
Wikinews has multiple stories related to this topic:

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Chen, Laurie; Torode, Greg (5 March 2025). "China maintains defence spending increase at 7.2% amid roiling geopolitical tensions". Reuters. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
  2. ^ Wezeman, Siemon T.; Djokic, Katarina; George, Mathew; Hussain, Zain; Wezeman, Pieter D. "Developments among the suppliers of major arms, 2019–23". SIPRI Yearbook 2024. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780198930570. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  3. ^ Lague, David (4 March 2008). "China increases military spending". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "What does China really spend on its military?". 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  5. ^ "China says defence spending increase to be 'appropriate' | News | al Jazeera". Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
  6. ^ "China Sets Date for 'Two Sessions' in Latest Move Toward Post-COVID Normal". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 May 2020. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  7. ^ "What Does China Really Spend on its Military?". 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 16 August 2018. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
  8. ^ Grevatt, Jon; Andrew, MacDonald (5 March 2021). "China announces 6.8% increase in 2021 defence budget". Janes. Archived from the original on 28 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  9. ^ Yew Lun Tian (5 March 2022). "China plans 7.1% defence spending rise this year, outpacing GDP target". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  10. ^ "What does China really spend on its military?". ChinaPower, CSIS. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  11. ^ "China to raise defence budget 10.1 pct this year in high-tech drive". Reuters. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  12. ^ "China aims for around seven percent economic growth in 2015: Premier Li". Reuters. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  13. ^ "China says defense spending pace to slow, to improve intelligence". Reuters. 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  14. ^ Martina, Michael (2017-03-06). "China confirms 7 percent increase in 2017 defense budget". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  15. ^ "China to increase 2018 defense budget by 8.1 percent - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Archived from the original on March 5, 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  16. ^ "China boosts defense spending, rattling its neighbors' nerves". Reuters. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  17. ^ Nectar Gan and James Griffiths (21 May 2020). "China's leaders look to send message of control at annual political showcase". CNN.
  18. ^ Tian, Yew Lun (2021-03-05). "China defence spending gets mild boost amid economic caution". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  19. ^ Lei, Zhao. "China to raise military budget by 7.1% this year". www.chinadaily.com.cn.
  20. ^ Jash, Amrita (April 14, 2023). "China's 2023 Defense Spending: Figures, Intentions and Concerns". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  21. ^ "China boosts military spending by 7.2%, vows to 'resolutely' deter Taiwan 'separatist activities'". CNBC. 5 March 2024.
  22. ^ Modernizing China’s Military Opportunities and Constraints
  23. ^ Office of the Secretary of Defense - Annual Report to Congress: Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2010 (PDF)"Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-03-20. Retrieved 2015-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  24. ^ "The 15 major spender countries in 2011 (table)". sipri.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  25. ^ "East-West military gap rapidly shrinking: report". Reuters. 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  26. ^ "AIRSHOW-Fighters, radar, marine patrols top Asia's military wish-list". Reuters. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  27. ^ "China's Military Power Nears "Parity" With the West, Report Says". Popular Mechanics. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  28. ^ Robertson, Peter (October 2019). "China's military might is much closer to the US than you probably think". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  29. ^ Tian, Nan; Lopes Da Silva, Diego; Liang, Xiao; Scarazzato, Lorenzo (April 2024). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2023". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  30. ^ Fravel, M. Taylor (2024-06-06). "Estimating China's Defense Spending: How to Get It Wrong (and Right)". Texas National Security Review. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  31. ^ Tian, Nan; Lopes Da Silva, Diego; Liang, Xiao; Scarazzato, Lorenzo (April 2024). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2023". Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  32. ^ Marcus, Johnathan (2014-02-05). "Military spending: Balance tipping towards China". BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  33. ^ United States Department of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), https://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/Documents/defbudget/fy2015/fy2015_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf, retrieved May 3rd, 2014.
  34. ^ Branigan, Tania. "China targets 7.5% growth and declares war on pollution". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  35. ^ Kazak, Sergey (8 October 2013). "Russia to Up Nuclear Weapons Spending 50% by 2016". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  36. ^ Porter, Henry (2013-02-03). "What budget for defence? First let's work out Britain's place in the world". Guardian. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  37. ^ "Plan for Defense Programs and Budget of Japan Ministry of Defense Overview of FY2014 Budget" (PDF). Japanese Ministry of Defense. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_budget_of_China
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