Nationalist China doesn't start the game as a single nation: it starts at war with 
Japan and split between the central government and a handful of warlords running their own politics, with just 11 civilian factories and 8 military ones to support the largest population in the game — 340.4 million people. Winning here isn't about having a big army, it's about pulling the pieces together before Japan tears them away one by one.
Historical Context
The Chinese Empire fell in 1911-1912, and a fragile republic rose from its ashes that the Kuomintang under Chiang Kai-shek only nominally reunified, with many warlords keeping loyalty to Nanjing that was more nominal than real. The game starts in 1936 with the Kuomintang caught in an intermittent civil war against the 
Chinese Communist Party since 1927, while Japan has already occupied Manchuria and keeps pressing harder on northern China.
National Spirits at Start
China starts with seven national spirits that, together, paint a picture of a central government weakened by corruption, an inefficient economy, and armed forces carrying serious structural problems.
Corruption in the Administration
+0.35 daily political power gain. 25% of factories to consumer goods. -10% construction speed. +65% economy law cost.
Inefficient Economy
-35% production efficiency growth. -50% base fuel gain.
Corruption in the Armed Forces
-5% division organization. -78% recruitable population factor. -15% division defense.
Illicit Trade
-15% factories to consumer goods. -15% factory output.
Aviation Affairs Commission
-20% air experience gain. +25% air accidents chance.
Neglected Countryside
-20% research speed. +0.05 daily support for communism.
Nine Power Treaty
16% of factories to consumer goods. +16% resources to market. -16% time to justify war goals against you.
A Country Split in Three
Nationalist power doesn't control the whole country at start. There are regional warlords answering to their own interests, and a communist faction whose relationship with you swings between forced alliance and open civil war. While you sort out that internal politics, Japan is already pressing from the east with industry far superior to yours.
The Focus Tree Branches
China's tree (with No Compromise, No Surrender) is organized around several main branches:
End Military Primacy — installs a 
democratic government inspired by Sun Yat-sen's principles, with coalition-building and international support sub-branches.
Dang Guo ("party-state") — the historical branch: determines leadership between Wang Jingwei and Chiang Kai-shek, includes warlord integration and the civil war decision against the Communists.
Strengthening Our Resolve — installs a 
fascist government under Dai Li with aggressive territorial expansion across Asia.
Promote the National Currency — industrial development that tackles corruption and inefficiency while building economic capacity.
Military Affairs Commission — army modernization, with a choice between defensive fortification or offensive doctrine.
Strengthen the Nationalist Air Force — aviation development and aircraft factory construction.
Republic of China Navy — naval modernization, with research bonuses and dockyard expansion.
This guide doesn't go into the detail of the more extreme political routes (the democratic route, the fascist route under Dai Li) — they're playthrough paths that will be covered in separate content later.
Unity Against Japan or Internal Supremacy
The core decision running through the entire Chinese game is real, not a game invention: do you prioritize 
Unity with the Communists and the warlords to present a united front against Japan, or do you pursue Kuomintang Internal Supremacy, resolving domestic politics even if it leaves the Japanese front weaker in the meantime? The historical route was a forced truce after the Xi'an Incident — tactical cooperation against Japan without resolving the underlying rivalry, which would resume as soon as the war ended.
The Priority: Unify Before You Bleed
Everything else waits on this:
- Unification focuses with the warlords as soon as possible, to add their manpower and industry to a central command.
- Active management of the relationship with the Communists: cooperate against Japan while it's useful, or cut ties before they grow too strong.
- Foreign support —
Soviet or 
American, depending on which focuses you have available — to cover the enormous industrial gap against Japan. - Cheap, numerous infantry as your base template: you're not going to compete on technology, so compete on volume and terrain.
Doctrine and Division Templates
China doesn't start with any doctrine unlocked, and with only 8 starting military factories there's no room to chase an expensive armor doctrine. The 
Whampoa Military Academy — Chiang Kai-shek's historical power base, the cradle of much of the Kuomintang's command — is the natural starting point for professionalizing command before investing in expensive technology. Design numerous, cheap infantry divisions, leveraging the biggest manpower pool in the game to make up for what you lack in equipment. That's why for the land doctrine tree we recommend 
Mass Assault: it doesn't depend on expensive gear you don't have, and it directly leverages the sheer manpower volume you have to spare over any other nation in the game.
For the exact breakdown of combat widths and template composition, the combat width guide and the doctrines guide go into the numerical detail this guide only sketches out.
War Campaigns
If you're going to follow the historical script, what really matters isn't the exact dates but what you need to have ready at each stage so you don't repeat China's real mistakes. Here's what to do at each stage:
- Xi'an Incident — use this moment to decide your stance toward the Communists: a tactical truce gives you a united front against Japan, but it doesn't resolve the underlying rivalry, so don't treat it as a permanent alliance.
- Marco Polo Bridge-style clash — once total war starts, don't try to hold a continuous front line; you don't have the industry for it, so trade space for time from day one instead of waiting for the line to break exactly where it hurts most.
- Shanghai-style defense — fierce urban resistance delays the enemy and buys you time, but don't sacrifice more divisions there than necessary; the goal is to win weeks, not win the battle.
- Fall of the capital — decide in advance whether you'll defend it to the last or evacuate government and industry inland before it falls; improvising this with the enemy already at the gates gets expensive.
- Wuhan-style major battle — after this the front tends to stabilize; it's the moment to lean on a fortified defensive line instead of still trying to hold everything equally.
- War of attrition — use this long stalemate to unify the warlords, tackle the corruption in your national spirits, and secure a Soviet or American foreign-support pipeline; it's your window to get the house in order while the front holds on its own.
- Ichi-Go-style offensive — don't assume the stalemate is permanent: keep a strategic reserve, because Japan can launch a major late offensive even after years of relative calm.
- Japan's surrender — have your handling of the Communists already decided before this moment arrives; the internal civil war resumes almost immediately, and whoever comes into that phase better prepared wins it.
Common Mistakes
- Letting the warlords keep acting on their own while you focus only on the Japanese front — every ununified faction is combined strength you won't have when you need it most.
- Ignoring the corruption reflected in your own national spirits — trying to play as if you had a healthy economy without tackling those structural problems first.
- Cutting ties with the Communists too soon, before the front against Japan is stable enough to afford it.
This guide will expand with more detail on the relationship with the Chinese Communists and a step-by-step route for foreign support. Also check out the Japan guide to see the same conflict from the other side of the front.
China's Achievements
Seven achievements specific to China, from the most straightforward to the ones that require a whole game planned around them:
Awake and Angry
As China, reconquer all of China and Manchuria and force a Japanese surrender.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
As China, puppet and then annex Yunnan and the Guangxi Clique.
Sun Tzu Reborn
As any Chinese nation, have a level 9 field marshal.
Its all coming together
As China, fully control all core states alone or with subjects.
The Coast is Clear
As China, never lose a starting coastal state before September 2, 1945.
A Fullmetal Brotherhood
As Fascist China, control 300 Steel, Tungsten, and Chromium.
Genghis Khan't
As any Chinese country or Manchukuo, own and control all Mongolian core states.