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Military budget of China

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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 China is the portion of the overall budget of China that is allocated for the funding of the military 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.[citation needed]

As of 2023, the official military budget was announced to be 1.55 trillion yuan, the second largest in the world behind the US.[1]

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, SIPRI, China became the world's fifth largest exporter of major arms in 2014–18, an increase of 2.7 per cent from the period 2010–2014. China supplied major arms to 53 states in 2014–18. Pakistan was the main recipient of these transfers, standing for 37%, whilst the remaining exports were small in volume, but with a wide variety of countries.[2]

Official announcements

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The Chinese government annually announce 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$131BN.[3]
  • 2015: the budget was announced to be US$141BN.[4] At the same time, the Chinese government estimated the Chinese economy to grow 7% in 2015.[5]
  • 2016: the budget was announced to be 954.35 billion yuan which is about US$147BN, raised 6-7 % above last year's estimates.[6]
  • 2017: the budget was announced to be 1.044 trillion yuan ($151.4 billion), representing a 7% increase from the last year.[7]
  • 2018: the budget was announced to be 1.11 trillion yuan ($175 billion), which represents an 8.1% increase.[8] This is China's largest defense budget raise in three years.[9]
  • 2019: the budget was announced to be 1.19 trillion yuan, which is an increase of 7.5%.
  • 2020: the budget was announced to increase by 6.6% this year to 1.27 trillion yuan (US$178 billion).[10]
  • 2021: the budget was announced to be 1.35 trillion yuan (US$209 billion), an increase of 6.8%.[11]
  • 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.[12]
  • 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.[1]
  • 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.[13]

Unofficial estimates

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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.

The last year that many international institutes provided estimates of Chinese military spending in comparable terms was 2003.[citation needed] 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.[14] The Chinese government's published budget at that time was less than US$25 billion.

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.[15]

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.[16] Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that the military spending of the People's Republic of China for 2009 was US$100 billion,[17] 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.[18]

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.[19]

In 2017, the magazine Popular Mechanics estimated that China's annual military spending is greater than $200 billion, around 2% of the GDP.[20]

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.[21]

In 2022, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated the China's military spending is $230 billion which accounted for 1.7% of the country total GDP.[22]

A 2024 study by Taylor Fravel, George J. Gilboy, and Eric Heginbotham estimated China's total military spending for 2024 at US$471 billion.[23]

Comparison with other countries

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Absolute expenditures in USD
Country/Region SIPRI (2022)[24] Official budget (2014) IISS (2013)[25]
United States $877.0 billion $575 billion [26] $560.4 billion
China $292.0 billion $131 billion[27] $111.2 billion
Russia $86.4 billion $69.3 billion[28] $68.2 billion
United Kingdom $68.5 billion $56.9 billion[29] $57 billion
Japan $46.0 billion $47 billion[30] $51 billion

See also

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Wikinews has multiple stories related to this topic:

References

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  1. ^ a b Jash, Amrita (April 14, 2023). "China's 2023 Defense Spending: Figures, Intentions and Concerns". Jamestown Foundation. Retrieved 2023-04-15.
  2. ^ Wezeman, Pieter D. (March 2019). "Trends in international arms transfers, 2018 | SIPRI".
  3. ^ "What does China really spend on its military?". ChinaPower, CSIS. 2016-04-19. Retrieved 2016-04-21.
  4. ^ "China to raise defence budget 10.1 pct this year in high-tech drive". Reuters. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  5. ^ "China aims for around seven percent economic growth in 2015: Premier Li". Reuters. 2015-03-05. Retrieved 2015-03-05.
  6. ^ "China says defense spending pace to slow, to improve intelligence". Reuters. 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2016-03-05.
  7. ^ Martina, Michael (2017-03-06). "China confirms 7 percent increase in 2017 defense budget". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-20.
  8. ^ "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.
  9. ^ "China boosts defense spending, rattling its neighbors' nerves". Reuters. 5 March 2018. Retrieved 2018-03-06.
  10. ^ Nectar Gan and James Griffiths (21 May 2020). "China's leaders look to send message of control at annual political showcase". CNN.
  11. ^ Tian, Yew Lun (2021-03-05). "China defence spending gets mild boost amid economic caution". Reuters. Retrieved 2021-03-07.
  12. ^ Lei, Zhao. "China to raise military budget by 7.1% this year". www.chinadaily.com.cn.
  13. ^ "China boosts military spending by 7.2%, vows to 'resolutely' deter Taiwan 'separatist activities'". CNBC. 5 March 2024.
  14. ^ "U.S. Department of Defense". U.S. Department of Defense.
  15. ^ Modernizing China’s Military Opportunities and Constraints
  16. ^ 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)
  17. ^ "The 15 major spender countries in 2011 (table)". sipri.org. Archived from the original on 28 March 2010. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
  18. ^ "East-West military gap rapidly shrinking: report". Reuters. 2011-03-08. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  19. ^ "AIRSHOW-Fighters, radar, marine patrols top Asia's military wish-list". Reuters. 2012-02-16. Retrieved 2023-04-17.
  20. ^ "China's Military Power Nears "Parity" With the West, Report Says". Popular Mechanics. 2017-02-16. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  21. ^ Robertson, Peter (October 2019). "China's military might is much closer to the US than you probably think". The Conversation. Retrieved 2020-01-26.
  22. ^ Tian, Nan; Fleurant, Aude; Kuimova, Alexandra; Wezeman, Pieter D.; Wezeman, Siemon T. (24 April 2022). "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2021" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ "Trends in World Military Expenditure, 2022" (PDF). Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. April 2023. Retrieved 29 April 2023.
  25. ^ Marcus, Johnathan (2014-02-05). "Military spending: Balance tipping towards China". BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  26. ^ United States Department of Defense, Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller), http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/defbudget/fy2015/fy2015_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf, retrieved May 3rd, 2014.
  27. ^ Branigan, Tania. "China targets 7.5% growth and declares war on pollution". The Guardian. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  28. ^ Kazak, Sergey (8 October 2013). "Russia to Up Nuclear Weapons Spending 50% by 2016". RIA Novosti. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  29. ^ 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.
  30. ^ "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.
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