# China and Japan compared

China and Japan side by side: 41 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, and the 5 events their chronicles record of each other.

Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/chn-vs-jpn
Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates)

Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation.

## Formation

- China: 221 BCE — Qin Shi Huang completes the unification of China
- Japan: 660 BCE (traditional) — The traditional accession of Emperor Jimmu

## Economy

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $18.74 T | 2024 | $4.03 T | 2024 |
| GDP per capita | $13,303 | 2024 | $32,487 | 2024 |
| GDP growth | 5.0% | 2024 | 0.1% | 2024 |
| Inflation | 0.2% | 2024 | 2.7% | 2024 |
| Trade openness | 37.2% | 2024 | 46.4% | 2024 |

## Society

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1.41 bn | 2024 | 124 m | 2024 |
| Life expectancy | 78.0 yrs | 2024 | 84.0 yrs | 2024 |
| Urban population | 65.9% | 2024 | 92.2% | 2024 |
| Fertility rate | 1.0 | 2024 | 1.1 | 2024 |

## Governance

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Voice & accountability | 27.9 | 2024 | 76.4 | 2024 |
| Political stability | 63.3 | 2024 | 85.3 | 2024 |
| Government effectiveness | 68.8 | 2024 | 91.9 | 2024 |
| Regulatory quality | 53.7 | 2024 | 75.8 | 2024 |
| Rule of law | 47.0 | 2024 | 83.0 | 2024 |
| Control of corruption | 49.6 | 2024 | 75.3 | 2024 |

## Health

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health spending | 5.9% | 2023 | 10.7% | 2023 |
| Physicians | 3.11 | 2022 | 2.65 | 2022 |
| Under-5 mortality | 5.7 | 2024 | 2.4 | 2024 |
| Measles immunisation | 95.0% | 2024 | 95.0% | 2024 |
| Safe drinking water | — | — | 98.7% | 2024 |

## Education

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 96.7% | 2020 | — | — |
| Education spending | 3.9% | 2023 | 3.3% | 2021 |
| Primary enrolment | 99.6% | 2024 | 101.1% | 2023 |
| Secondary enrolment | 92.3% | 2012 | 101.5% | 2023 |
| Tertiary enrolment | 76.9% | 2024 | 64.5% | 2023 |

## Technology

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| R&D spending | 2.6% | 2023 | 3.4% | 2023 |
| Researchers (per million) | 2,107 | 2023 | 5,609 | 2023 |
| Internet users | 91.6% | 2025 | 85.5% | 2024 |
| Mobile subscriptions | 132 | 2024 | 178 | 2023 |
| High-tech exports | 26.3% | 2024 | 17.6% | 2024 |

## Geography

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Land area | 9,388,210 km² | 2023 | 364,569 km² | 2023 |
| Forest area | 24.0% | 2023 | 68.4% | 2023 |
| Agricultural land | 55.4% | 2023 | 12.6% | 2023 |
| CO₂ per capita (t) | 9.3 | 2024 | 7.8 | 2024 |
| Renewable energy | 15.2% | 2021 | 8.8% | 2021 |

## Resources

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resource rents | 1.7% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Oil rents | 0.3% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Mineral rents | 0.5% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Forest rents | 0.1% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2023 | 100.0% | 2023 |
| Copper (mined) | 1.8 Mt | 2025 | — | — |
| Iron ore | 290 Mt | 2025 | — | — |
| Gold (mined) | 380 t | 2025 | — | — |
| Lithium (mined) | 62.0 kt | 2025 | — | — |
| Cobalt (mined) | 2,000 t | 2025 | — | — |
| Nickel (mined) | 120 kt | 2025 | — | — |
| Rare earths | 270 kt | 2025 | — | — |
| Bauxite | 87 Mt | 2025 | — | — |
| Zinc (mined) | 4.1 Mt | 2025 | — | — |
| Phosphate rock | 110 Mt | 2025 | — | — |

## Military

| Metric | China | Observed | Japan | Observed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military burden | 1.7% | 2024 | 1.4% | 2024 |
| Defense spending | $314 B | 2024 | $55 B | 2024 |
| Armed forces | 2.5 m | 2020 | 261,000 | 2020 |

Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/<metric>.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/CHN.md and https://terralore.co/country/JPN.md.

## Entangled histories (5 events)

Events in which either nation's sourced chronicle names the other — including under earlier names of the same state. Each is the record exactly as its own chronicle carries it, with that chronicle's sources.

- 604 CE: **Prince Shotoku's Seventeen-Article Constitution** — As regent, Prince Shotoku promulgates a set of Confucian and Buddhist moral precepts for government and intensifies the adoption of Chinese institutions. (from the Japan chronicle; sources: Shotoku, Taishi; Asuka period)
- 645 CE: **The Taika Reform** — A court coup destroys Soga dominance and inaugurates reforms reorganizing land and administration along centralized Chinese lines, the basis of the ritsuryo state. (from the Japan chronicle; sources: Asuka period; Japan)
- 710 CE: **Capital established at Nara** — The court founds Japan's first permanent capital, Heijo-kyo (Nara), modeled on the Tang Chinese capital, beginning the Nara period. (from the Japan chronicle; sources: Nara period; Japan)
- 1937 CE: **Second Sino-Japanese War and the Nanjing Massacre** — Japan's full-scale invasion from July 1937 brings catastrophic violence, including the December 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which Japanese forces murdered many tens of thousands of civilians and prisoners and committed mass rape. (from the China chronicle; sources: Second Sino-Japanese War; China)
- 1946 CE: **Chinese Civil War resumes; Communist victory** — After Japan's surrender, full-scale civil war between Nationalists and Communists resumes, ending in 1949 with Communist victory and the retreat of Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist government to Taiwan. (from the China chronicle; sources: China)

## Sources

- World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org
- Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators
- Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho
- Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org
- R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org
- ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics
- Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 — U.S. Geological Survey · Public domain (U.S. Government work) · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.usgs.gov/centers/national-minerals-information-center
- Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex

Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/CHN/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/JPN/chronicle.md.

Citation template: Terralore, "China and Japan compared", terralore.co/compare/chn-vs-jpn, retrieved <YYYY-MM-DD>.