China official defence budget — US dollars

## What this measures

China's official central-government defence budget (defense.china.official_budget_cny) divided by the average yuan-per-dollar rate for the same year, in billions of US dollars. A year appears only once its full-year average rate is published, so the latest budget year shows in yuan first.

## Why it matters

Dollars put China's announced budget on the same scale as US and allied spending. It is the China input to the China-to-US ratio (cn_us_defense_ratio_official) and to the tracked-economies total (defense.tracked_total_usd).

## How to read it

Higher means a larger official budget in dollars. Because it is converted at market rates, a weaker yuan lowers it even when the yuan budget rises; read it with the yuan series.

## What it does not say

This is the official budget, and independent estimates (SIPRI, IISS) put China's actual military spending materially higher. Market exchange rates understate what the money buys inside China. It is a budget, not an outturn.

## Source

Computed by Palanor: Ministry of Finance of the PRC budget reports (see defense.china.official_budget_cny) ÷ the Federal Reserve Board's annual average yuan-per-dollar rate (H.10, FRED series AEXCHUS, the annual average of DEXCHUS; public domain). Recomputed monthly by /api/cron/worldbank-sync (src/lib/defense/official.ts).