Chinavs India
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, China (#3) holds a narrow edge over India (#4).
- China fields 4.1× as many destroyers.
- China spends 3.6× as much on its military.
- China fields 3.4× as many submarines.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyEven, 2–2
- Land forcesChina leads 3 of 5
- Air powerChina leads 7 of 7
- Naval forcesChina leads 7 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsChina leads 2 of 2
Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.
People and money
Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.
$336B
Military spending
$92.1B2.04M
Active personnel
1.43M510K
Reserves
1M625K
Paramilitary
2.53MSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (China: 1.7% of GDP; India: 2.3% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
5,870
Tanks
3,913152K
Armored vehicles
164K2,940
Self-propelled artillery
1001,400
Towed artillery
5,6402,770
Rocket artillery
300Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
3,529
Total aircraft
2,1831,443
Fighters
476371
Attack aircraft
1241,007
Helicopters
594281
Attack helicopters
799
Tankers
6287
Transports
277Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
841
Total fleet
3433
Aircraft carriers
24
Helicopter carriers
061
Submarines
1853
Destroyers
1346
Frigates
1850
Corvettes
21Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
620
Warheads
19034
Deployed warheads
12Compare other countries
Related matchups
- United StatesvsChina
- IndiavsPakistan
- ChinavsRussia
- ChinavsTaiwan
- ChinavsJapan
- ChinavsAustralia
- IndiavsRussia
- United StatesvsIndia
Profiles: China and India. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.