China’s arms trade: trends and challenges

Abstract

Over the past decade, China has made significant progress in the development of the defense industry; today, China is able to produce almost all the nomenclature items of weapons, military vehicles, and ammunition. The aim of the research is to analyze China’s successes in the development of the defense sector; it is highlighted that the Chinese military-industrial complex has reached the point of technological self-sufficiency at this time. The essential features of the public-private partnership model (“the triple helix”) are considered. The authors tracked the evolution of China’s export regulations as they related to the selling of goods from the militaryindustrial complex. The share of Chinese military-industrial complex exports in the global arms market is revealed. The study shows the escalation of US-Chinese rivalry in the field of building up military capacities and establishing export ties. Trade in military-industrial complex products is a means for China to achieve its foreign policy goals. The authors discuss possible areas for improving the country’s export strategies and vectors of geographical coverage of foreign trade, as well as barriers and difficulties in the development of foreign trade in military-industrial complex products.