Estimates of China’s military spending relative to the US vary widely from around one quarter of US spending to near parity. This column argues that the use of appropriate relative prices and unbiased economic measurement techniques greatly reduces the range of reasonable estimates. Given current data, China’s military expenditure in PPP terms is estimated to be $541 billion, or 59% of US spending, and its equipment levels are only 42% of US levels. Comparing trends over time shows that t...| CEPR