Nepal vs. China
Military
| Nepal | China | |
|---|---|---|
| Military branches | Nepal Army (includes Air Wing); Nepal Armed Police Force (under the Ministry of Home Affairs; paramilitary force responsible for border and internal security, including counter-insurgency, and assisting the Army in the event of an external invasion) (2021) | People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (PLAN, includes marines and naval aviation), Air Force (PLAAF, includes airborne forces), Rocket Force (strategic missile force), and Strategic Support Force (information warfare, cyber, space forces); People's Armed Police (PAP, includes Coast Guard, Border Defense Force, Internal Security Forces); PLA Reserve Force (2021) note(s): the PAP is a paramilitary police component of China's armed forces that is under the command of the Central Military Commission (CMC) and charged with internal security, law enforcement, counterterrorism, and maritime rights protection in 2018, the Coast Guard was moved from the State Oceanic Administration to the PAP; in 2013, China merged four of its five major maritime law enforcement agencies - the China Marine Surveillance (CMS), Maritime Police, Fishery Law Enforcement (FLE), and Anti-Smuggling Police - into a unified coast guard |
| Military service age and obligation | 18 years of age for voluntary military service (including women); no conscription (2019) | 18-22 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 (2019) |
| Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.6% of GDP (2019) 1.6% of GDP (2018) 1.7% of GDP (2017) 1.7% of GDP (2016) 1.6% of GDP (2015) | 1.7% of GDP (2020 est.) 1.9% of GDP (2019) 1.9% of GDP (2018) 1.9% of GDP (2017) 1.9% of GDP (2016) |
| Military and security service personnel strengths | the Nepal Army has approximately 95,000 active troops (including a small air wing of about 500 personnel) (2021) | information varies; approximately 2 million total active duty troops (est. 1.0 - 1.1 million Ground; 250,000 Navy/Marines; 350-400,000 Air Force; 120,000 Rocket Forces; 150-175,000 Strategic Support Forces); est. 600-650,000 People's Armed Police (2020) |
| Military equipment inventories and acquisitions | the Army's inventory includes a mix of older equipment largely of British, Chinese, Indian, Russian, and South African origin; since 2010, Nepal has received limited amounts of newer hardware from several countries, including China, Italy, and Russia (2020) | 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 top supplier of foreign military equipment since 2010, followed by France and Ukraine; the Chinese defense-industrial sector is large and capable of producing advanced weapons systems across all military domains; it is the world's second largest arms producer (2020) note: the PLA is in the midst of a decades-long modernization effort; in 2017, President XI set three developmental goals for the force - becoming a mechanized force with increased information and strategic capabilities by 2020, a fully modernized force by 2035, and a worldwide first-class military by mid-century |
| Military deployments | Nepal has about 5,500 total troops deployed on UN peacekeeping missions, including: 725 Central African Republic (MINUSCA); 880 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 400 Golan Heights (UNDOF); 870 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 230 Liberia (UNSMIL); 150 Mali (MINUSMA); 1,725 South Sudan (UNMISS) (Jan 2021) | 425 Mali (MINUSMA); 225 Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO); 320 Sudan (UNAMID); 420 Lebanon (UNIFIL); 1,000 South Sudan (UNMISS); up to 2,000 Djibouti (Jan 2021) |
Source: CIA Factbook
