Military power of China & NATO
China vs NATO
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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.
More about China militaryThe North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Alliance) is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949. NATO is a system of collective security: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by others countries. NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels. The following twelve states signed the treaty and became the founding members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States. The following states joined the treaty after 1949: Greece, Germany, Turkey and Spain. Members who joined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.
Before and during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, several NATO countries sent army to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank. Alliance had deployed 40,000 troops along its 2,500 kilometres long Eastern flank to deter possible Russian aggression. On 5 July the North Atlantic Alliance members signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland and formally approved the decisions of the NATO summit.
Finland joined the alliance on 4 April 2023.
If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
 CN |  NATO | |
|---|---|---|
| Military budget: | 293 billion $ | 1157.71 billion $ |
| Percent of GDP: | 1.7% | 0% |
Manpower
| CN | NATO | |
|---|---|---|
| Active personnel: | 2,035,000 | 3,142,889 |
| Reserve personnel: | 2,000,000 | 2,748,132 |
| Available for military: | 385,821,101 | 206,903,543 |
Land Forces
| CN | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanks: | 5,750 | 14,125 | |
| Armoured fighting vehicles: | 14,130 | 86,709 | |
| Total artillery: | 7,094 | 12,997 | |
| Self-propelled artillery: | 2,720 | 4,359 | |
| Rocket artillery: | 3,140 | 2,485 |
Air Forces
| CN | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total aircraft: | 4,630 | 21,104 | |
| Fighter aircraft: | 1,049 | 1,104 | |
| Multirole aircraft: | 1,130 | 3,586 | |
| Attack aircraft: | 120 | 728 | |
| Helicopters: | 1,355 | 8,293 | |
| UCAV (combat drone): | 151 | 556 |
Navy
| CN | NATO | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Total naval: | 742 | 1,916 | |
| Aircraftcarriers: | 4 | 28 | |
| Destroyers: | 38 | 119 | |
| Frigates: | 54 | 113 | |
| Corvettes: | 73 | 54 | |
| Submarines: | 74 | 144 |
☢ 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.
NATO
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.
NATO
Data not available