China holds a 99–1 advantage over Afghanistan on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by military spending (100% of the combined total, $336bn) and economic size (GDP) (100% of the combined total, $18.7tn).
1 factor — nuclear warheads — could not be scored because the figure is unpublished for at least one side. Those factors are excluded and the remaining weights renormalised, never substituted.
| Factor | Afghanistan | Share | China | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $278m | 0%100% | $336bn | 33% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $17.2bn | 0%100% | $18.7tn | 27% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 100.0k | 5%95% | 2.0m | 20% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 9 | 2%98% | 402 | 20% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
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