China
Global Firepower rank #3 of 145 路 PowerIndex 0.0919 (lower is stronger)
SIPRI puts China's 2025 military spending at $336 billion (estimate), 1.7% of GDP and up 7.4% on the year in real terms, ranking #2 in the world. It is a nuclear-armed state with an estimated 620 warheads in its military stockpile, about 34 of them deployed (SIPRI, January 2026).
People and money
- Military spending
- $336B
- Active personnel
- 2.04M
- Reserves
- 510K
- Paramilitary
- 625K
Land forces
- Tanks
- 5,870
- Armored vehicles
- 152K
- Self-propelled artillery
- 2,940
- Towed artillery
- 1,400
- Rocket artillery
- 2,770
Air power
- Total aircraft
- 3,529
- Fighters
- 1,443
- Attack aircraft
- 371
- Helicopters
- 1,007
- Attack helicopters
- 281
- Tankers
- 9
- Transports
- 287
Naval forces
- Total fleet
- 841
- Aircraft carriers
- 3
- Helicopter carriers
- 4
- Submarines
- 61
- Destroyers
- 53
- Frigates
- 46
- Corvettes
- 50
Nuclear weapons
- Warheads
- 620
- Deployed warheads
- 34
Compare China with
- United StatesvsChina
- ChinavsIndia
- ChinavsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- ChinavsJapan
- ChinavsAustralia
- ChinavsUnited Kingdom
- IndonesiavsChina
Australia 路 Brazil 路 Egypt 路 France 路 Germany 路 India 路 Indonesia 路 Iran 路 Israel 路 Italy 路 Japan 路 North Korea 路 Pakistan 路 Poland 路 Russia 路 Saudi Arabia 路 South Korea 路 Spain 路 Taiwan 路 Turkey 路 Ukraine 路 United Kingdom 路 United States
Last updated 2026-10-27. Sources: Global Firepower 2026 (personnel, equipment counts, powerindex), SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026) (military spending, share of gdp), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces (nuclear warheads (jan 2026)).