Military profile
China Military Strength
China ranks #3 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 2,000,000 active personnel. It spent $335.5 billion on its military in 2025 (1.7% of GDP).
China armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 2,000,000#1 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 510,000#9 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 625,000#5 of 145
- Army personnel
- 2,545,000#1 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 400,000#2 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 300,000#2 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 3,166#3 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 1,199#2 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 371#3 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 913#3 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 281#3 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 4,950#4 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 2,795#4 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 1,434#12 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 3,145#2 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 2#2 of 113
- Destroyers
- 50#2 of 113
- Frigates
- 43#1 of 113
- Corvettes
- 72#2 of 113
- Submarines
- 78#1 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 150#4 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 36#2 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $335.5 billion#2 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.7%#78 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $23.01 trillion#1 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
China military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of China grew by 218% between 2010 and 2025, from $105.5 billion to $335.5 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.7% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of China
Branches and forces
People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces or People's Liberation Army Army (PLAA), Navy (PLAN, includes Marine Corps (PLANMC)), Air Force (PLAAF), Rocket Force (PLARF), Aerospace Force (ASF), Cyberspace Force (CSF), Information Support Force (ISF), Joint Logistics Support Force (JLSF); People's Armed Police (PAP, includes Coast Guard, Border Defense Force, Internal Security Forces); PLA Reserve Force (2025)
Personnel
approximately 2 million active-duty PLA (950,000-1 million Ground; 250,000 Navy, including about 50,000 Marines; 350-400,000 Air Force; 120,000 Rocket Forces; 150-175,000 other forces) (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-26 years of age depending on education level for men and women for both volunteer and selective compulsory military service; 24-month service obligation (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the PLA is mostly equipped with domestically produced armaments with smaller amounts of imported weaponry, largely from Russia; China has one of the world's largest defense-industrial sectors and is capable of producing advanced weapons systems across all military domains (2025)
Deployments abroad
475 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,050 South Sudan (UNMISS); 280 Sudan/South Sudan (UNISFA); has also established a base in Djibouti with approximately 400 marines, plus naval and support personnel (2025)
Good to know
the People's Liberation Army (PLA) is the world’s largest military; the PLA's primary responsibility is external security but it also has some domestic security duties; China’s stated defense policy includes safeguarding sovereignty, security, and development interests while emphasizing a greater global role for the PLA; the PLA conducts air, counterspace, cyber, electronic warfare, joint, land, maritime, missile, nuclear, and space operations; it trains regularly, including multinational and multiservice exercises, deploys overseas, and participates in international peacekeeping missions the PRC's internal security forces consist primarily of the Ministry of Public Security (MPS), the Ministry of State Security (MSS), the People’s Armed Police (PAP), and the militia; the PLA support the internal security forces as necessary: --the MPS controls the civilian national police, which serves as the first-line force for public order; its primary mission is domestic law enforcement and maintaining order, including anti-rioting and anti-terrorism --the MSS is the PRC’s main civilian intelligence and counterintelligence service --the PAP is a paramilitary component (or adjunct) of the PLA; its primary missions include internal security, maintaining public order, maritime security, and assisting the PLA in times of war; the China Coast Guard (CCG) administratively falls under the PAP and has a variety of missions, such as maritime sovereignty enforcement, surveillance, resource protection, anti-smuggling, and general law enforcement; it is the largest maritime law enforcement fleet in the world --the militia is an armed reserve of civilians which serves as an auxiliary and reserve force for the PLA upon mobilization, although it is distinct from the PLA’s reserve forces; militia units are organized around towns, villages, urban sub-districts, and enterprises, and vary widely in composition and mission; they have dual civilian-military command structures; a key component of the militia are the local maritime forces, commonly referred to as the People’s Armed Forces Maritime Militia (PAFMM); the PAFMM consists of mariners (and their vessels) who receive training, equipment, and other forms of support from the Navy and CCG (although the PAFMM remains separate from both) to perform tasks such as maritime patrolling, surveillance and reconnaissance, emergency/disaster response, transportation, search and rescue, and auxiliary tasks in support of naval operations in wartime; the PAFMM’s tasks are often conducted in conjunction or coordination with the Navy and the CCG; it has been used to assert Beijing's maritime claims in the Sea of Japan and South China Sea (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1.5% · 2023: 1.5% · 2022: 1.5% · 2021: 1.5% · 2020: 1.7%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
China compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| China | #3 | $335.5 billion |
 Mongolia | #99 | $221 million |
 Russia | #2 | $190.4 billion |
 India | #4 | $92.1 billion |
 Myanmar | #38 | $5.0 billion |
 Kazakhstan | #63 | $1.3 billion |
 Nepal | #129 | $428 million |
 North Korea | #34 | — |
 Vietnam | #19 | $10.5 billion |
 Kyrgyzstan | #107 | $601 million |
 Bhutan | #145 | — |
 Tajikistan | #120 | $247 million |
 Laos | #115 | — |
 Pakistan | #7 | $11.9 billion |
 Afghanistan | #114 | $278 million |