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
Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF): Lao People's Army (LPA, includes Riverine Force), Air Force, Self-Defense Militia Forces (2021)
Military service age and obligation
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)
18 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; conscript service obligation - minimum 18 months (2019)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
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)
0.2% of GDP (2017 est.)
0.2% of GDP (2016 est.)
0.2% of GDP (2015 est.)
0.2% of GDP (2014 est.)
0.2% of GDP (2013 est.)
Military and security service personnel strengths
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)
information is limited and estimates for the size of the Lao People's Armed Forces (LPAF) vary; approximately 30,000 active duty troops (26,000 Army; 4000 Air Force) (2020)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
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
the LPAF is armed largely with weapons from the former Soviet Union; since 2010, China and Russia are the leading suppliers of military equipment to Laos (2020)
