Military budget of the People's Republic of China

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
The military budget of the People's Republic of China in US$ billions.
The military budget of the People's Republic of China as a percentage of GNP.

The military budget of the People's Republic of China (PRC) is the portion of the overall budget of China that is allocated for the funding of the military of the People's Republic of China. This military budget finances employee salaries and training costs, the maintenance of equipment and facilities, support of new or ongoing operations, and development and procurement of new weapons, equipment, and vehicles. Every March, as part of its annual state budget, China releases a single overall figure for national military expenditures.[1]

The Chinese government's published 2012 military budget is about US$106.4 billion,[2] the second largest in the world behind the US and up about 11.2% from 2011.[3] As of 2012, China's military budget is approximate 1/6 (17.3%) of the US military budget.

Contents

Unofficial estimates[edit]

Unofficial estimates place the total amount of military spending for the People's Republic of China higher than the Chinese government figures, but these calculations tend to differ between organizations.

The last year that many international institutes provided estimates of Chinese military spending in comparable terms was 2003.[citation needed] In terms of the prevailing exchange rate, SIPRI, RAND, the CIA and the DIA estimated the budget to be between US$30–65 billion. In terms of purchasing power parity, or the relative purchasing strength of the expenditure, the SIPRI estimate was as high as US$140 billion.[4] The Chinese government's published budget at that time was less than US$25 billion.

A RAND Corporation study for year 2003 estimated the People's Republic of China's defense spending to be higher than the official number but lower than United States Department of Defense calculations. The defense spending of the People's Republic of China was estimated, in the mid-range estimate, to be 38 billion dollars or 2.3% of China's GDP in 2003. The official figure was 22.4 billion dollars. Nevertheless, Chinese military spending doubled between 1997 and 2003, nearly reaching the level of the United Kingdom and Japan, and it continued to grow over 10% annually during 2003-2005.[5]

In 2010, the US Department of Defense's annual report to Congress on China's military strength estimated the actual 2009 Chinese military spending at US$150 billion.[6] Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) estimates that the military spending of the People's Republic of China for 2009 was US$100 billion,[7] higher than the official budget, but lower than the US DoD estimate.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies in a 2011 report argued that if spending trends continue China will achieve military equality with the United States in 15–20 years.[8]

Jane's Defence Forecasts in 2012 estimated that China's defense budget would increase from $119.80 billion to $238.20 billion between 2011 and 2015. This would make it larger than the defense budgets of all other major Asian nations combined. This is still smaller than the estimated United States defense budget of $525.40 billion for 2013. However, United States defense spending is slightly declining.[9]

Comparison with other countries[edit]

Gnome globe current event.svg
 This article is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. (February 2012)
Absolute expenditures in USD for 2004–2007
Country/Region Official budget DIA SIPRI[10] RAND[11] DoD[6]
United States $419.3 billion $475.3 billion $475.3 billion $419.3 billion[6]
United Kingdom $58.6 billion $47.4 billion $47.4 billion
Japan $45.8 billion $45.8 billion $42.4 billion
People's Republic of China (PRC)[12] $29.9 billion $90–130 billion $30.7 billion $42.0-51.0 billion $63.0 billion
Russia $14.5 billion $70.0 billion $19.4 billion $70.0 billion
Republic of China (Taiwan) $7.6 billion $7.7 billion
Relative expenditures as percentage of GDP
Country/Region Official budget SIPRI[13] RAND[11] DoD[6]
United States 3.6% 4.0% 3.6%[6]
Russia 2.8% 4.3% 12%
United Kingdom 2.7% 2.2%
Republic of China (Taiwan) 2.6% 2.2%
People's Republic of China (PRC)[12] 1.4% 1.8% 1.9-2.4% 1.2%
Japan 1.0% 1.0%
  • Note that this data have been adapted to the revision of China's 2004 GDP. This revision increased China's GDP number by 16.8%, or US$283 billion. These figures were issued by the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics following a survey that aimed to gather more accurate data. Service industries accounted for 93% of the revision.[14]
  • 2007 military budget is 350.92bn yuan, an increase of only 4.1 yuan per capita
  • Due to differences between the countries' budget systems, China categorizes the budget of the 2nd Artillery Corps as the budget of Space Development Rockets, and missile development is included in the Air Science budget. As a result, China and Russia's military budgets do not correspond to those of other countries. Actual military expenditure can be estimated by military equipment inventory. DIA re-estimated China's real military expenditure for 2007, and Pentagon reported to Congress that it will be between US$80–130 billion, at the same as the military spending for Japan, the United Kingdom, and France combined.

See also[edit]

Wikinews has multiple stories related to this topic:

References[edit]

  1. ^ GlobalSecurity.org
  2. ^ "China Raising 2012 Defense Spending to Cope With Unfriendly ‘Neighborhood’". Bloomberg. 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-11-25. 
  3. ^ "China's defense budget to grow 11.2 pct in 2012: spokesman - Xinhua | English.news.cn". News.xinhuanet.com. 2012-03-04. Retrieved 2012-11-25. 
  4. ^ pg 26
  5. ^ [Modernizing China’s Military Opportunities and Constraints http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/2005/RAND_MG260-1.pdf]
  6. ^ a b c d e Office of the Secretary of Defense - Annual Report to Congress: Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2010 (PDF)[1]
  7. ^ The 15 countries with the highest military expenditure in 2009
  8. ^ "East-West military gap rapidly shrinking: report", By Peter Apps, Reuters, Tue Mar 8, 2011 http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/us-world-military-idUSTRE7273UB20110308.
  9. ^ AIRSHOW-Fighters, radar, marine patrols top Asia's military wish-list, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:38am EST, Reuters, http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/16/asia-defence-idUSL4E8DF2M720120216
  10. ^ 2005 estimate
  11. ^ a b http://www.rand.org/hot_topics/china/ 2004 estimate
  12. ^ a b GlobalSecurity.org 2005 data
  13. ^ 2004 estimate
  14. ^ "Business | China climbs world economic table". BBC News. 2005-12-20. Retrieved 2012-11-25. 

External links[edit]
General
Branches
Administration
State
Insignia
Ranks
Decorations
Uniform
Other topics
PLA institutions
Contractors*
*Authorized Defense Products Dealer of PRC
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_budget_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China&oldid=560372817"