Chinavs Italy
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a solid edge over Italy (#10).
- China has nuclear weapons; Italy has none.
- China fields 29× as many tanks.
- China fields 18× as many destroyers.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyChina leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesChina leads 5 of 5
- Air powerChina leads 7 of 7
- Naval forcesChina leads 7 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsChina leads 2 of 2
Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.
People and money
Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.
$336B
Military spending
$48.1B2.04M
Active personnel
166K510K
Reserves
18K625K
Paramilitary
105KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP; Italy: 1.9% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,870
Tanks
203152K
Armored vehicles
87K2,940
Self-propelled artillery
641,400
Towed artillery
1082,770
Rocket artillery
21Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
3,529
Total aircraft
7141,443
Fighters
88371
Attack aircraft
651,007
Helicopters
352281
Attack helicopters
379
Tankers
8287
Transports
31Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
841
Total fleet
2853
Aircraft carriers
24
Helicopter carriers
061
Submarines
853
Destroyers
346
Frigates
1450
Corvettes
0Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
620
Warheads
034
Deployed warheads
0Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United StatesvsChina
- ChinavsIndia
- ChinavsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- ChinavsJapan
- ChinavsAustralia
- ItalyvsFrance
- SpainvsItaly
Profiles: China and Italy. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.