RAND : China's Defense Spending Lower Than Previous Estimates

May 19, 2005

Projects future growth in Chinese government expenditures as a whole and on defense in particular, evaluates the current and likely future capabilities of China’s defense industries, and compares likely future expenditure levels with recent defense expenditures by the United States and the U.S. Air Force. The authors forecast that Chinese military spending is likely to rise from an estimated $69 billion in 2003 to $185 billion by 2025-approximately 61 percent of what the Department of Defense spent in 2003.

Full Document: PDF (2.3 MB)