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Three Chinese arms companies have been ranked among the world's top 10 for weapons sales in 2019 in a Stockholm security think tank's annual list of the largest arms manufacturers.
The United States was the leading nation in terms of both arms spending and sales of weapons, with China in second place in both respects.
In the ranking by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), six US companies and three Chinese firms made up the top 10 along with one from Britain.
Aviation Industry Corporation of China, China Electronics Technology Group Corporation and China North Industries Group Corporation were ranked sixth, eighth and ninth respectively in the list of companies.
A fourth Chinese arms firm, China South Industries Group Corporation, was ranked 24th among the 25 companies examined in SIPRI's report, released on Monday.
Data from SIPRI's arms transfer database showed that aircraft, ships, missiles, armoured vehicles and air defence systems were the four Chinese firms' top revenue generators in 2018 and 2019, totalling nearly US$2.5 billion, with the top three buyers of Chinese weapons being Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand.
The combined revenue of the four Chinese companies grew by 4.8 per cent overall between 2018 and 2019, to US$56.7 billion.
This was the first time SIPRI had included Chinese companies in its annual ranking, having previously cited a lack of reliable data.
The report said overall arms sales by the top 25 companies rose by 8.5 per cent in 2019 to US$361 billion, with the leading five all coming from the United States: Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and General Dynamics, with combined arms sales of US$166 billion. Another American firm, L3Harris Technologies, was in 10th place, while Britain's BAE Systems was seventh.
The US arms industry accounted for 61 per cent of sales by the world's top 25 manufacturers last year, followed by China in second place with 16 per cent, according to the report. Six western European companies collectively accounted for 18 per cent, while the two Russian companies in the list made up 4 per cent.
Zhou Chenming, a military expert in Beijing, said relatively cheap prices and good quality made Chinese weapons competitive in the global arms market.
“China has invested huge money in developing cutting-edge weapons for years, and now Chinese weapons have improved their performance and are at reasonable prices which can be accepted by many developing countries,” Zhou said.
But Zhou did not expect the growth for Chinese companies to continue at the same rate, partly because of international polarisation driven by China's rivalry with the US.
“I think most US allies will continue buying arms from the US, and Russia will keep its own market share, and it will be quite difficult for China to increase its arms export revenue,” he said.
Nan Tian, a senior researcher from SIPRI, said Chinese arms companies had benefited from the drive to modernise the country's People's Liberation Army since 2015.
China was already viewed by the United States as its strongest competitor in cutting-edge military technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing, according to a US Congressional Research Service report released in August.
“China and the United States are the two biggest states in terms of global arms spending, with companies cut to size,” Lucie Beraud-Sudreau, director of SIPRI's arms and military expenditure programme, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse.
The US has dominated the market for decades, but China's growth “corresponds to the implementation of reforms to modernise the People's Liberation Army”, she said.
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DAVID PUGLIESE, OTTAWA CITIZEN Top defence officials from the U.S. and Japan say they are confident they'll reach the wreckage of a F-35 stealth fighter jet before China does, even though there are no indications that country is actively searching for the downed plane. There has been speculation from various media outlets that either Russia or China would seek to recover the parts of the F-35 to better understand its stealth and other technology. At an April 19 joint news conference the U.S. Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya addressed such concerns but dismissed any worries the aircraft would be recovered by any nation other than the U.S. or Japan. “The Japanese have the lead there, and we're working very collaboratively with them,” Shanahan explained. “And we've got a capability if what they have doesn't prove to be sufficient.” Shanahan was asked whether he was concerned China could get to the wreckage first. “No, I'm not,” he responded. Japanese Defence Minister Takeshi Iwaya also expressed confidence. “We don't have such possibility, absolutely no,” he said. “We are conducting surveillance and warning activities so we can identify and find the missing aircraft.” He was speaking through a translator. The F-35 crashed in an area in the Pacific Ocean which is estimated to be around 5,000 feet deep. Japan is using a submarine and other vessels to search for the wreckage. The aircraft went missing on April 9 about 30 minutes after taking off from Misawa air base in northern Japan. The aircraft was flying with three other F-35As in a night training mission. The next day the Japanese military confirmed that the aircraft had crashed and some debris had been recovered. “This is a very important aircraft, so we would like to locate the aircraft as soon as we can and salvage it,” Iwaya added during the joint news conference. “Japan will lead the investigation, but we're hoping and also it is indispensable to have the support of the U.S. So while we do that, we would like to find the root cause of the accident.” Pentagon spokesman Charles Summers Jr. told the Air Force Times last week that the crash had not shaken the American and Japanese militaries' faith in the F-35 program. “The U.S., and all F-35 partners, remain fully committed to protecting all F-35 capabilities and technology,” he added. https://ottawacitizen.com/news/national/defence-watch/us-japan-say-theyll-get-to-f-35-wreckage-first-concerns-china-will-reach-crash-site-dismissed