Even the limited amount of available data suggests that Chinese military companies’ share on the global arms market is second only to that of their American rivals.
Four Chinese defence industry companies have made it onto the list of the 25 largest military equipment producers, with a combined $56.7 billion in sales in 2019, according to new analysis by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). This placed China second in terms of manufacturing and selling armaments, although the analysis appeared to ignore several major Chinese companies working in the field of shipbuilding and missile manufacturing due to the inaccessibility of records on their performance, The Wall Street Journal noted.
At the same time, SIPRI’s analysis of the available data suggests that the Chinese arms market grew slower than the rest of the industry on average. The aforementioned Chinese defence companies increased their revenues by around 4.8% over the last year.
China has been actively developing its defence industry over the last decade, presenting a number of new additions to its military arsenal, including a new domestically-made aircraft carrier, the Type 002 Shandong and the fifth-generation stealth jet Shenyang FC-31.
The US secured first place on the list of countries in terms of arms market share, with 12 companies present in the top 25 list, SIPRI’s report shows. They jointly accounted for some $221.2 billion in sales in 2019. The combined total of the 25 companies listed was $361 billion. Lockheed Martin, which recently presented its F-35 jets to the market, garnered the top spot among all defence companies in terms of 2019 revenue with $53.2 billion and over 12% growth compared to 2018.
European and Russian defence companies trail the US and China. Two Russian companies, Almaz-Antey and United Shipbuilding remained in the top 25, with $634 million in sales, while another one, United Aircraft, dropped out due to tanking financial results.
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