China is almost there but if they are not carefal, they can sleep easily. They have to fix their staggering poverty problem and revise their mandate
on human rights.
China Military Strength
Military Manpower: 667,657,509
Personnel Fit for Military Service: 550,265,789
Available Yearly Military Manpower: 25,848,582
Purchasing Power: $7,099,000,000,000
Gold Reserves: $1,534,000,000,000
Oil Production: 3,710,000 (barrels/day)
Oil Consumption: 7,000,000 (barrels/day)
Proven Oil Reserves: 16,300,000 (barrels)
Labor Force: 803,300,000
Ports: 8
Airports: 467
Railways: 75,438 km
Waterways: 124,000 km
Roadways: 1,870,661 km
Land Area: 9,596,960 km
Merchant Marines: 1775
Originally posted by Alxandro
reply to post by Breifne
Ok, so I was off by a bit, but not by much, yet still a lot closer than your 5M estimate.
China Military Strength
Military Manpower: 667,657,509
Personnel Fit for Military Service: 550,265,789
Available Yearly Military Manpower: 25,848,582
Purchasing Power: $7,099,000,000,000
Gold Reserves: $1,534,000,000,000
Oil Production: 3,710,000 (barrels/day)
Oil Consumption: 7,000,000 (barrels/day)
Proven Oil Reserves: 16,300,000 (barrels)
Labor Force: 803,300,000
Ports: 8
Airports: 467
Railways: 75,438 km
Waterways: 124,000 km
Roadways: 1,870,661 km
Land Area: 9,596,960 km
Merchant Marines: 1775
Why the hoopla over the Chinese?
I heard recently they had the second largest economy way back in 1890, so obviously things haven't changed much in this department.
Ground Forces and Tanks
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is moving toward an overall reduction and reorganization of personnel and equipment with the goal of creating a more modern and mobile army. In 2000, the total estimated personnel strength of the Chinese military is 2.5 million, of which 1.8 million are in service with the PLA (ground forces).
The ground forces are divided into 7 military regions with 27 military districts. Within the 7 military regions lie 21 Group Armies, each containing about 60,000 personnel. The Group Armies contain among them 44 infantry divisions, 13 infantry brigades, 10 armored divisions, 12 armored brigades, 5 artillery divisions, 20 artillery brigades, and 7 helicopter regiments. In addition, 5 infantry divisions, 2 infantry brigades, 1 armored brigade, 1 artillery division, 3 artillery brigades, and 3 anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) brigades are independent elements of the PLA not assigned to any specific Group Army. There are also three airborne divisions, which are manned by the PLAAF. 5
There are also numerous reserve and paramilitary units, some of which do not fall under the direct control of the PLA. The PLA reserve component has about 1.2 million personnel divided into 50 infantry, artillery, and air-defense divisions.
In addition, approximately 1.1 million personnel serve in the People's Armed Police, which includes internal security and border defense forces under the control of the Ministry of Defense. The People's Armed Police is organized into 45 divisions.
The reserve forces and the People's Armed Police are expected to increase in size in the near future as active units are shifted to reserve status under China's modernization and restructuring plan. 6

Originally posted by Johnmike
I like how you left out pictures of rural Western China.![]()
Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Politics – “China” – (1/4)
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Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Politics – “China” – (2/4)
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Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Politics – “China” – (3/4)
Google Video Link |
Sociology, Cultural Anthropology, Politics – “China” – (4/4)
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Originally posted by Breifne
As for the final statement, I am not even going to entertain that - that's just nonsense!!
![]()
Here it is:
source