t
Vincent and the Grenadines 94, Sierra Leone 15, Singapore 14,
Thailand 1, Tuvalu 16, unknown 39) (2008)

Ports and terminals:

Dalian, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai, Shenzhen,
Tianjin

Military
China

Military branches:

People's Liberation Army (PLA): Ground Forces, Navy (includes
marines and naval aviation), Air Force (includes airborne forces),
and Second Artillery Corps (strategic missile force); People's Armed
Police (PAP); PLA Reserve Force (2008)

Military service age and obligation:

18-22 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with
24-month 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
(2007)

Manpower available for military service:

males age 16-49: 375,009,345
females age 16-49: 354,314,328 (2008 est.)

Manpower fit for military service:

males age 16-49: 313,321,639
females age 16-49: 295,951,438 (2008 est.)

Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:

male: 10,760,380
female: 9,710,032 (2008 est.)

Military expenditures:

4.3% of GDP (2006)

Transnational Issues
China

Disputes - international:

continuing talks and confidence-building measures work toward
reducing tensions over Kashmir that nonetheless remains militarized
with portions under the de facto administration of China (Aksai
Chin), India (Jammu and Kashmir), and Pakistan (Azad Kashmir and
Northern Areas); India does not recognize Pakistan's ceding historic
Kashmir lands to China in 1964; China and India continue their
security and foreign policy dialogue started in 2005 related to the
dispute over most of their rugged, militarized boundary, regional
nuclear proliferation, and other matters; China claims most of
India's Arunachal Pradesh to the base of the Himalayas; lacking any
treaty describing the boundary, Bhutan and China continue
negotiations to establish a common boundary alignment to resolve
territorial disputes due to cartographic discrepancies; Chinese maps
show an international boundary symbol off the coasts of the littoral
states of the South China Seas, where China has interrupted
Vietnamese hydrocarbon exploration; China asserts sovereignty over
the Spratly Islands together with Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan,
Vietnam, and possibly Brunei; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct
of Parties in