Rising China arms exports threaten Russian influence worldwide

Chinese-made advanced weapons systems flooding the international market over the next 10 years will cause instability, and make it a lot harder for the Russian to intervene in other countries, Foreign Policy magazine warned.

FP analyzed the impact of Beijing’s rapidly increasing role in the global arms market in an article titled: ‘China’s Weapons of Mass Consumption.’

China’s shift from small arms to advanced weapons systems is proven by the sale of drones to Africa and the Middle East in 2011, a contract to supply three frigates to Algeria in 2012 and Turkey’s surprise choice of a Chinese air and missile defense system over US and EU offerings a year later.

In recent years, Beijing has been trying to achieve self-sufficiency in defense supplies by investing heavily in mimicking foreign weapon technologies and domestic arms research and development programs.