Chinavs Japan
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a narrow edge over Japan (#7).
- China has nuclear weapons; Japan has none.
- China has aircraft carriers; Japan has none.
- China has 8.1× as many active troops.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyChina leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesChina leads 5 of 5
- Air powerChina leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesChina leads 6 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
$62.2B2.04M
Active personnel
252K510K
Reserves
56K625K
Paramilitary
25KSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP; Japan: 1.4% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,870
Tanks
734152K
Armored vehicles
54K2,940
Self-propelled artillery
1931,400
Towed artillery
4802,770
Rocket artillery
99Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
3,529
Total aircraft
1,4291,443
Fighters
217371
Attack aircraft
471,007
Helicopters
583281
Attack helicopters
1189
Tankers
10287
Transports
53Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
841
Total fleet
1583
Aircraft carriers
04
Helicopter carriers
461
Submarines
2353
Destroyers
4146
Frigates
850
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
- JapanvsSouth Korea
- JapanvsRussia
- North KoreavsJapan
- ChinavsAustralia
Profiles: China and Japan. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.