China spent more on defense than the rest of Asia combined last year as President Xi Jinping progressed toward his goal of building a military to rival the United States.
A Newsweek chart, based on estimates released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in an April report, illustrates the trend. The document compared China's military budget with the continent's next eight-largest defense spenders.
Labeled a "pacing threat" by the Pentagon, China has used its expanding defense budget to advance its military capabilities in recent years. The country now boasts more warships than the U.S. and is rapidly building its stockpiles of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.
China's military spending totaled nearly $296.4 billion in 2023, according to SIPRI's estimate, more than three times the defense budget of the second-largest spender in the region, India, at $83.6 billion.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry and SIPRI with written requests for comment.
Coming in third and fourth were United States East Asian allies Japan ($50.2 billion) and South Korea ($47.2 billion).
Taiwan was fifth, spending $16.6 billion on defense. Sixth was Singapore with $13.2 billion, followed by Southeast Asian neighbors Indonesia ($9.5 billion), Thailand ($5.8 billion) and the Philippines ($5.5 billion).
The Pentagon and certain other members of the U.S. security space believe China's defense figure is higher than reported. The Washington, D.C.-based American Enterprise Institute (AEI) estimated, accounting for unreported expenditures, China's 2022 military budget to have been about $711 billion, nearly equal to the U.S..
"China is directing much of its growing military budget to boost the combat readiness of the People's Liberation Army," Xiao Liang, a researcher for SIPRI's Military Expenditure and Arms Production Programme, said in the institute's report.
He pointed out that China's growing military clout has spurred neighboring countries, such as Japan and Taiwan, to beef up their fighting capabilities.
Japan has committed to raising its defense budget to 2 percent of GDP by 2027, matching NATO's target for its members. The move comes amid rising concerns over China's military posture toward Taiwan and increased Chinese coast guard activity around the disputed Senkaku islands.
Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory and has vowed to someday unify, has been doubling down on its own defense in recent years, boosting its budget to 2.5 percent of GDP and continuing to purchase and develop weapons platforms at a steady pace.
The Philippines, engaged in a territorial dispute with China in the South China Sea, has embarked on a $35 billion, 10-year military modernization program.
During a session of its rubber-stamp parliament in March, China announced a 7.2 percent increase in its defense budget for the year, bringing it to $236.1 billion.
SIPRI generally considers national data accurate unless there is compelling evidence to the contrary. Estimates are made when official data does not align with SIPRI's definition or lacks consistent time series coverage.
The institute has adopted a broad definition for military expenditures, including funds for a country's armed forces, defense ministries and related government bodies, paramilitary forces, personnel salaries, social services, retirement pensions, operations and maintenance, procurement, R&D, infrastructure and donated military aid.
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