Quality of China’s Arms Exports is Improving; China Almost Doubles Arms Sales

China remains the world's third largest arms exporter and almost doubled its earnings from weapons sales in 2015. More significantly, China is exporting more high-quality weapons commanding higher prices.

China is also pouring money into developing a more advanced arms manufacturing industry more concerned with product quality, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.

China's emphasis on low prices helped make it the world's third top arms exporter in 2015, selling nearly $2 billion worth of arms, said SIPRI. From 2011 to 2015, China was also the world's third largest arms exporter, accounting for some six percent of the total arms market. This is nearly double China's arms exports from 2006 to 2010.

China's weapons, however, were bought by only a few and mostly poor countries, a testimony to their low prices.

From 2011 to 2015, 71 percent of all Chinese arms sales went to only three countries: Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. Pakistan (China's top ally in the world) accounted for 35 percent of China's arms sales for this period. The remainder mostly went to poorer countries such as Algeria, Sudan and Tanzania, all in Africa.

Despite its surge in arms sales, China accounted for only 5.9 percent of global arms exports from 2011 to 2015, far behind the United States and Russia, the world's two largest arms exporters.

"The Chinese until 10 years ago were only able to offer low-tech equipment. That has changed," said Siemon Wezeman of the SIPRI arms spending program.

"The equipment that they produce is much more highly advanced than 10 years ago, and attracts interest from some of the bigger markets."

The report also noted the volume of international transfers of major weapons (including sales and donations) was 14 percent higher from 2011 to 2015 compared to the five previous years. The U.S. and Russia were the top exporters for this period.