Chinas arms export to the developing countries in Asia - Essay Example

In the context of the sudden increase in China’s arm exports in the last decade, two things are worth mentioning. First, the increase is primarily due to a sudden rise in volume of arms purchased by Pakistan in the last few years, wherein it accounts for more than 50 % of arms exported by China in the last five years (Holtom, Bromley, Wezeman and Wezeman, 2013). China has exported combat aircrafts in large numbers to Pakistan, while there are pending orders for frigates and submarines. Besides Pakistan, some of the recent arms deals with other countries, such as Venezuela, Morocco and Algeria, show that China is rapidly turning into a powerful arms dealer (Klare, 2013).

Second, currently many research papers have focused on China’s development of advanced weapon technologies; however, these advanced forms of arms are not successful as the traditional ones within the global market. This is primarily because main importers of Chinese arms are the countries that aim at buying cheaper and less advanced weapons, even though China may have more advanced systems in offer. As for example, reports show that China exports more of F-7.2, which are technologically less advanced than the J-10 and J-11 models of fighter planes (Holtom, Bromley, Wezeman and Wezeman, 2013).

Therefore, it is evident that while China gained significance as a global player within the arms export market, its buyers are mainly from the developing nations. Between 2006 and 2009, (Grimmett, 2011).