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
Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan: Land Forces, Mobile Forces (airborne, mountain infantry troops), Air and Air Defense Forces; National Guard; Ministry of Internal Affairs: Internal Troops (reserves for Armed Forces in wartime); State Committee on National Security: Border Guard Forces (2020)
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)
18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; 12-18 month conscript service obligation (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)
2.2% of GDP (2017)
2.2% of GDP (2016)
2.2% of GDP (2015)
2.1% of GDP (2014)
2.3% of GDP (2013)
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)
the Armed Forces of the Republic of Tajikistan have approximately 9,500 active troops (8,000 Land and Mobile Forces; 1,500 Air and Air Defense Forces) (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 Tajikistan Armed Forces' inventory is comprised of older Russian and Soviet-era equipment; it has received limited quantities of weapons systems since 2010, most of which was second-hand material from Russia (2020)
Military deployments
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)
contributes troops to CSTO's Rapid Reaction Force (2021)
