China has overtaken Germany to become the world’s third-biggest arms exporter, although its 5% share remains small compared to the combined 58% of exports from the US and Russia, according to the Associated Press.
China’s share of the global arms market rose 143% from 2010 to 2014, a period during which the total volume of global arms transfers rose by 16% over the previous five years, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a recent report.
Its share of the world market was up from 3% in the 2009-2014 period, when China was ranked ninth among exporters of warplanes, ships, sidearms and other weaponry, said the SIPRI report.
The data show the growing strength of China’s domestic arms industry, now producing fourth-generation fighter jets, navy frigates and a wide-range of relatively cheap, simple and reliable smaller weapons used in conflicts around the globe.
Responding to the study, Chinese Foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China took a “cautious approach” to arms exports and abided by relevant UN resolutions and domestic laws, according to the AP.
China supplies weapons to 35 countries, led by Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, SIPRI said.
China’s comparative advantages include its low prices, easy financing and friendliness toward authoritarian governments (such as North Korea and Iran—nations the US would not supply), said Philip Saunders, director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs at the US National Defense University.
The US retained a 31% share of the global arms market, exporting to at least 94 recipients, SIPRI said. Russia was second with a 27% global share, 39% of which went to India—the world’s largest arms importer overall.
Germany and France are the other two nations which help make up the top five in world arms exports, both now slightly behind China. Germany’s arms exports declined by 43% during the latest five-year period examined in the SIPRI report. France’s arms exports dropped 27%, the report said.
