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Recent research indicates that China's extensive military budget might rival that of the US, as reports suggest that China could be hiding its actual defense spending figures.
Over the past five years, China has reported a growth in defense spending from 6.6 percent to 7.5 percent, which is only about a third of the US defense budget. The report also notes a common misconception among the American public that the US military consistently outpaces its competitors, often based on misleading statistics regarding US defense spending.
A recent study by a think tank analyzed China's reported military budget for 2022, which was $229 billion. This study adjusted the figure to account for purchasing power parity and wage differences between US and Chinese government employees. The study focused on three main categories of military expenditure: training and maintenance, personnel, and equipment, based on a report submitted by China to the United Nations in 2020.
However, the study also suggests that there could be undisclosed expenses related to research and development, technological investments such as satellites, veteran retirement benefits, and other military organizations like the paramilitary People's Armed Police (PAP) and the Coast Guard.
The think tank estimates that the budget for China's PAP alone could be as high as $45.2 billion. In the event of a conflict, such as one involving Taiwan, China would have the advantage of having all its military bases concentrated in the Asia-Pacific region, unlike the US, whose bases are more widely dispersed globally.