How population ageing drives up China's military spending

A securitization framework analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID5118539
AuthorsJiachen Shi (0000-0002-0359-3054, Tulane University, corresponding author)
Year2025
Volume39
Issue1
Pages3-29
Publication date2025-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueChina Information (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0920-203X • E-ISSN: 1741-590X
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0920203x241300395
OpenAlexW4405478216
LanguageEN
References cited17

Population ageing has long been perceived as a domestic socioeconomic issue that places a growing burden on government budgets. This has led to a prevailing argument in the literature that ageing-induced financial strain would consequently lead to a crowding-out effect on military expenditures. However, this article challenges the notion by arguing that population ageing in China is securitized by the government as a threat to national security on three dimensions: military, regime, and structural security. As a result, population ageing eventually exerts a crowding-in effect on military spending in China. To explore this mechanism, this article departs from a 'butter-versus-guns' paradigm and instead adopts a security framework, using primarily Chinese-language sources to explore the impact of population ageing on active-duty personnel, demobilized servicemen, and prospective soldiers

China · Development economics · Economics · Financial system · Political science · Population · Population ageing · Securitization · Sociology · Defense, Military, and Policy Studies · Demography · Global Security and Public Health · HIV/AIDS Impact and Responses

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