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Military power of China & European Union EU

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China vs European Union EU

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China European Union EU

China is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 9,596,961 km2 (land boundries: 22,457 km and costline 14,500 km). The capital of China is Beijing. The number of inhabitants is 1,444,390,177.

The People's Liberation Army is the military arm of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, which oversees the PLA through its Central Military Commission. The PLA is outfitted primarily with a wide mix of older and modern domestically-produced systems heavily influenced by technology derived from other countries. Russia is the main supplier military equipment outside the domestic industry.

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The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union countries that are located in Europe with an area of 4,233,255 km2 The capital of Ukraine is Brussels. The number of inhabitants estimated is about 447 million. Members of EU: Germany, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The European Union were not devised as a military alliance because most of the members are in the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the withdrawal of the UK, France is the only member recognised as a nuclear weapon state. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.

If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 293 billion $ 245.11 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.7% 0%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 816 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 2,035,000 1,166,519
Reserve personnel: 2,000,000 1,801,532
Available for military: 385,821,101 92,594,951

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 5,750 4,253
Armoured fighting vehicles: 14,130 29,418
Total artillery: 7,094 6,065
Self-propelled artillery: 2,720 1,872
Rocket artillery: 3,140 667

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 4,630 5,420
Fighter aircraft: 1,049 453
Multirole aircraft: 1,130 874
Attack aircraft: 120 162
Helicopters: 1,355 2,454
UCAV (combat drone): 151 41

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 12,930 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 742 1,306
Aircraftcarriers: 4 7
Destroyers: 38 19
Frigates: 54 69
Corvettes: 73 23
Submarines: 74 48

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

China

The last of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT, which at this moment possesses approximately 280 nuclear warheads in total. Nevertheless, the number of deployed bombs is unknown. The first test that occurred to be successful occurred in 1964. The main goal of Chinese was to build a deterrent against two major nuclear powers, namely The United States as well as The Soviet Union. The nation decided to choose dried lake for the nuclear site, Lop Nur. Although China developed and tested its first atomic device only in 1964, they managed to test their first hydrogen bomb only 32 months later. As a result, they can boast with the shortest period between developing fission and fusion technology.

China managed to conduct 45 tests of nuclear weapons. Still, the data regarding the stockpile of accumulated warheads is uncertain. The same thing concerns the number of deployed warheads. It is all due to the limited information that the country provides. We should also bear in mind that they are the only country out of five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT that does not give a positive security assurance.

European Union EU

Data not available

Military service

China

18-24 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with a 2-year 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; a recent military decision allows women in combat roles.

European Union EU

Data not available