I think you're making a mistake by comparing planned future fleet goals of one navy to current fleet numbers of other navies. It seems harder than a quick Goog

I think you're making a mistake by comparing planned future fleet goals of one navy to current fleet numbers of other navies. It seems harder than a quick Google search to find good numbers (e.g. the wikipedia article seems to count inactive obsolete reserve ships in its total for the USN), it seems like China has 328 ships (on an upward trend) and the USN has 280 ships (on a downward trend) [1], but obviously it's a difficult comparison because the US has more aircraft carriers, etc. [1] https://www.lawfareblog.com/end-us-naval-dominance-asia https://www.lawfareblog.com/end-us-naval-dominance-asia: > In early 2017, the Chinese Navy had 328 ships. It now possesses nearly 350 ships and is already larger than the U.S. Navy. China is the largest ship-producing country in the world and at current production rates could soon operate 400 ships. It commissions nearly three submarines each year, and in two years will have more than 70 in its fleet. The Chinese Navy also operates growing numbers of cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and corvettes, all equipped with long-range anti-ship cruise missiles. Between 2013 and 2016, China commissioned more than 30 modern corvettes. At current rates, China could have 430 surface ships and 100 submarines within the next 15 years. > Despite the growth of the Chinese Navy, the United States retains maritime superiority throughout East Asia. But the trend is what matters and the trend is less rosy. In early 2018, the size of the active U.S. fleet was 280 ships. Going forward, according to the Congressional Budget Office, if the Navy’s budget is the average of its budget over the prior 30 years in real dollars and it maintains its aircraft carrier and ballistic submarine construction schedules, in 12 years the active naval fleet will decline to 237 ships. In six years, the U.S. submarine fleet will decline to 48 ships, and in eleven years the number of U.S. attack submarines will decline to 41 ships.