Nevertheless, given the large size of China’s armed forces, which currently stands at 2.3 million, a rough calculation would indicate that monthly spending per soldier is at most 2,500 yuan on average – too low to recruit and retain competitive staff. But if China wants to raise the military budget to improve the quality of its army, the conflict with the demands of fiscal stability could make military transparency important for domestic reasons, and China might no longer view it as being off limits in its relations with the US.