Asia > China > Military

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Armed forces growth	-28		[99th of 132]
Armed forces personnel	2,810,000		[1st of 166]
Armed forces personnel (per capita)	2.15109 per 1,000 people		[108th of 166]
Arms exports > constant 1990 US$	129,000,000 constant 1990 US$		[13th of 45]
Arms exports > constant 1990 US$ (per capita)	0.099 constant 1990 US$ per 1		[33rd of 83]
Arms imports > constant 1990 US$	2,697,000,000 constant 1990 US$		[1st of 100]
Arms imports > constant 1990 US$ (per capita)	2.067 constant 1990 US$ per c		[46th of 170]
Branches People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes airborne forces), and Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed Police (PAP); PLA Reserve Force
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty > Signatures and Ratifications > Signature	24 SEP 1996
Conscription Selective conscription (FWCC).
Conventional arms exports	$125,000,000.00		[13th of 40]
Conventional arms exports (per $ GDP)	0.017 per $1,000		[34th of 40]
Conventional arms exports (per capita)	0.096 per 1 population		[35th of 40]
Conventional arms imports	$2,238,000,000.00		[2nd of 85]
Conventional arms imports (per $ GDP)	0.308 per $1,000		[49th of 85]
Conventional arms imports (per capita)	1.713 per 1 population		[54th of 85]
Employment in arms production	2,500,000		[1st of 56]
Employment in arms production (per capita)	1,913.78 per 1 million people		[15th of 56]
expenditure > % of central government expenditure	18.22 %		[10th of 88]
expenditure > % of GDP	1.98 %		[40th of 145]
expenditure > current LCU	363000000000
Expenditures	4.3 % of GDP		[14th of 87]
Expenditures > Dollar figure	$67,490,000,000.00		[1st of 111]
Expenditures > Dollar figure (per $ GDP)	$34.94 per 1,000 $ of GDP		[13th of 111]
Expenditures > Dollar figure (per capita)	$52.07 per capita		[27th of 111]
Expenditures > Percent of GDP	4.3%		[14th of 154]
Exports to developing nations	$6,372.00 million		[5th of 7]
Exports to developing nations (per $ GDP)	$0.00 million per $1 million		[6th of 7]
Exports to developing nations (per capita)	$4.88 million per 1 million p		[7th of 7]
International Military Tribunal for the Far East > Judges > Judge	Major-General Mei Ju-ao
International Military Tribunal for the Far East > Judges > Remarks Attorney and Member, Legislative Yuan
International Military Tribunal for the Far East > Prosecutors > Prosecutor	Hsiang Che-Chun
Iraq pledges of reconstruction aid	$25,000,000.00		[17th of 40]
Iraq pledges of reconstruction aid (per $ GDP)	$1.52 per $100,000 of GDP		[33rd of 40]
Iraq pledges of reconstruction aid (per capita)	$1.91 per 100 people		[36th of 40]
Manpower > Availability > Females	354,314,328		[1st of 162]
Manpower > Availability > Males	375,009,345		[1st of 210]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49	375,520,000		[1st of 175]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49	379,524,688		[1st of 175]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49 (per capita)	0.293 per capita		[20th of 175]
Manpower > Availability > Males age 15-49 (per capita)	287.466 per 1,000 people		[16th of 174]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Females	295,951,438		[1st of 162]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Males	313,321,639		[1st of 210]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Males age 15-49	208,143,352		[1st of 174]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Males age 15-49	206,000,000		[1st of 174]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Males age 15-49 (per capita)	0.161 per capita		[103rd of 174]
Manpower > Fit for military service > Males age 15-49 (per capita)	157.696 per 1,000 people		[103rd of 173]
Manpower > Military age	18 years of age
Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Females	9,710,032		[2nd of 226]
Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Females (per capita)	7.301 per 1,000 people		[162nd of 225]
Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Males	10,760,380		[2nd of 226]
Manpower > Reaching military age annually > Males (per capita)	8.09 per 1,000 people		[152nd of 225]
Manpower available for military service > Females age 18-49	324,701,244		[1st of 120]
Manpower available for military service > Females age 18-49 (per capita)	0.246 per capita		[19th of 120]
Manpower available for military service > Males age 18-49	342,956,265		[1st of 164]
Manpower available for military service > Males age 18-49 (per capita)	0.259 per capita		[21st of 164]
Manpower fit for military service > Females age 18-49	269,025,517		[1st of 119]
Manpower fit for military service > Females age 18-49 (per capita)	0.204 per capita		[17th of 119]
Manpower fit for military service > Males age 18-49	281,240,272		[1st of 161]
Manpower fit for military service > Males age 18-49 (per capita)	0.213 per capita		[12th of 161]
Manpower reaching military service age annually > Females age 18-49	12,298,149		[1st of 91]
Manpower reaching military service age annually > Males age 18-49	13,186,433		[1st of 157]
Military Capabilities > Active Troops	2,255,000		[1st of 10]
Military Capabilities > Defense Budget	$81,480,000,000.00		[2nd of 10]
Military Capabilities > Military Capabilities > Frigates	43		[1st of 10]
Military Capabilities > Tanks	7,580		[3rd of 10]
military expenditures > Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Figures > Date of information	2005 est.
military expenditures > Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Figures > Military expenditures, USD	41,000,000,000		[5th of 15]
Naval officer ranks > Flag Officers > OF-6	Da Xiao
Naval officer ranks > Flag Officers > OF-7	Shao Jiang
Naval officer ranks > Flag Officers > OF-8	Zhong Jiang
Naval officer ranks > Flag Officers > OF-9	Shang Jiang
Naval officer ranks > Other officers > OF-2	Shang Wei
Naval officer ranks > Other officers > OF-3	Shao Xiao
Naval officer ranks > Other officers > OF-4	Zhong Xiao
Naval officer ranks > Other officers > OF-5	Shang Xiao
personnel	3,755,000		[1st of 170]
personnel (per capita)	2.878 per 1,000 people		[107th of 171]
personnel > % of total labor force	0.48 %		[123rd of 168]
Service age and obligation 18-22 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with 24-month service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers); 18-19 years of age for women high school graduates who meet requirements for specific military jobs
Tanks	11,000 tanks		[3rd of 22]
Tanks (per capita)	8.42064 tanks per 1 million peop		[19th of 22]
Weapon holdings	34,281,000		[2nd of 137]
Weapon holdings (per capita)	26,242.5 per 1 million people		[90th of 137]
WMD > Biological China ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in December 1996, declaring two former chemical weapons (CW) production facilities that may have produced mustard gas and Lewisite. Since 1997, China has hosted 14 on-site inspections by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Although China claims that it no longer possesses any CW stockpiles, the U.S. government believes that China has not revealed the full scope of its program. China has signed a bilateral agreement with Japan to destroy CW that Japan abandoned in Chinese territory during World War II.
WMD > Chemical China ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in December 1996, declaring two former chemical weapons (CW) production facilities that may have produced mustard gas and Lewisite. Since 1997, China has hosted 14 on-site inspections by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). Although China claims that it no longer possesses any CW stockpiles, the U.S. government believes that China has not revealed the full scope of its program. China has signed a bilateral agreement with Japan to destroy CW that Japan abandoned in Chinese territory during World War II.
WMD > Missile China has produced and deployed a wide range of ballistic missiles, ranging from short-range missiles to intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). China's missiles are operated by the Second Artillery Corps, and include about 650 DF-11 (M-11) and DF-15 (M-9) missiles opposite Taiwan; several dozens of DF-3, DF-4, and DF-21 medium-range missiles that can reach Japan, India, and Russia; and 18-24 DF-5 ICBMs that can reach the United States and Europe. A transition is currently underway from relatively inaccurate, liquid-fueled, silo/cave-based missiles (DF-3, DF-4, DF-5) to more accurate, solid-fueled, mobile missiles (DF-11, DF-15, and DF-21, and a new ICBM [the DF-31] and SLBM [the JL-2], which are currently under development). China is replacing its older DF-5 missiles with new DF-5A variants, which may eventually be equipped with multiple warheads. A key question is how US deployment of ballistic missile defense (former known as theater and national missile defense) will affect the pace and scope of Chinese strategic modernization. Chinese missile exports have been a problem for more than a decade. China transferred 36 DF-3 medium-range missiles to Saudi Arabia in 1988, and supplied Pakistan with 34 M-11 short-range missiles in 1992. China has provided technology and expertise to the missile programs of several countries, including Pakistan, Iran, and North Korea. China has not joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), but has pledged to abide by its main parameters. In November 2000, China promised not to assist any country in the development of nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. In August 2002, China issued regulations and a control list restricting the export of missiles and missile technology. Since 2004, China has been engaged in consultation with the MTCR; however, its application for membership was not successful in the regime's latest plenary meeting in Seoul, South Korea, in October 2004. Concerns about Chinese missile technology transfers continue.
WMD > Nuclear China's nuclear weapons program began in 1955 and culminated in a successful nuclear test in 1964. Since then, China has conducted 45 nuclear tests, including tests of thermonuclear weapons and a neutron bomb. The series of nuclear tests in 1995-96 prior to China's signature of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) may have resulted in a smaller and lighter warhead design for the new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) now under development. China is estimated to have about 400 strategic and tactical nuclear weapons, and stocks of fissile material sufficient to produce a much larger arsenal. China joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1984 and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1992 as a nuclear weapon state. China provided nuclear reactors and technology to several countries in the 1980s and early 1990s, including design information and fissile material that reportedly helped Pakistan develop nuclear weapons. Since the early 1990s, China has improved its export controls, including the promulgation of regulations on nuclear and nuclear dual-use exports and has pledged to halt exports of nuclear technology to un-safeguarded facilities. In 2002 China ratified the IAEA Additional Protocol, the first and only nuclear weapons state to do so.
WMD > Overview China possesses nuclear weapons, a range of ballistic missile capabilities, and the ability to develop chemical and biological weapons. A key uncertainty is how ongoing military modernization efforts will ultimately reshape China's strategic nuclear capabilities, but U.S. deployments of missile defenses are likely to be a key variable. Serious concerns remain about China's proliferation of ballistic missile technology and its ability to control chemical items that could be used in the production of chemical weapons. Improved export control laws and enforcement have addressed many (but not all) concerns about nuclear and chemical weapons-related proliferation.

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