The Chinese military has not leapfrogged the US military. China has the largest military in the world, but that hasn't meant much in a long-time. The US has by

The Chinese military has not leapfrogged the US military. China has the largest military in the world, but that hasn't meant much in a long-time. The US has by far the most advanced and sophisticated weaponry of any military and that level of sophistication can hardly be captured by pure statistics alone. And while as a non-expert I can't confidently comment on the advantages and drawbacks of sophistication vs pure manpower/number of units, I wouldn't be surprised if in today's geopolitical environment the former is more important than the later. Though I think it's likely that the US approach is more about reducing casualties in order to lower the political barrier to war than anything else. After all, in a democracy you lose a war when the people are no longer willing to support it anymore. China doesn't have this problem and continue fighting regardless of the number of deaths sustained.