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Countries/China

Defense

China · 10 indicators

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Defense

China — Defense spending

Primary KPI: one of the key indicators tracked first for this country.Military spending as % of GDP; measures the national defense effort.
1.7% GDP
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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Defense

China — Defense spending — % of government expenditure

Military expenditure as a share of total general government expenditure.
5.1%
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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Defense

China — Armed forces at a glance

2,000,000​
Active personnel · 2024· ≈ order of magnitude
  • ≈510,000
    Reserves
  • ≈500,000
    Gendarmerie (paramilitary)
  • ≈5,000
    Main battle tanks
Source: IISS Military Balance 2024 · US DoD (China Military Power) · SIPRI· Data 2024
approximate values
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Defense

China — Overseas deployments

~2,523​
Deployed abroad · June 2026
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Presence forcesOperation · UN
Source: Ministère de la Défense nationale de la RPC (eng.mod.gov.cn / China Military) — communiqués sur les contingents de maintien de la paix et la base de soutien de Djibouti ; livre blanc du Conseil des affaires d'État « China's Armed Forces: 30 Years of UN Peacekeeping Operations » (2020). Effectifs onusiens recoupés (ONU / Casques bleus). Effectifs approximatifs.· Data June 2026
 
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Defense

China — Military spending (USD)

Military spending in current USD; enables volume comparison.
311.9BUSD
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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Defense

China — Active military personnel

Number of active-duty military personnel; reflects the size of the armed forces.
2.5M​
2020
Source: World Bank· Data 2020
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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Defense

China — Arms exports

Value of arms transfers exported; indicates weight in the global defense industry.
1.3BUSD
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026
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Defense

China — Arms imports

Value of arms transfers imported; indicates dependence on external suppliers.
71MUSD
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026
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Defense

China — Military personnel (% labour force)

Share of military personnel in the labour force.
0.3%
2020
Source: World Bank· Data 2020
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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Defense

China — Defense spending — local currency (EUR)

Military expenditure in current local currency units (EUR) — domestic-budget view.
2.2TEUR
2024
Source: World Bank· Data 2024
Upd. 10/2026 · Y-axis truncated
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