Ash
New Member
- Joined
- May 5, 2011
- Messages
- 527
- Likes
- 530
BEIJING (Reuters/AFP) - China has become the world's fifth-largest arms exporter, a respected Sweden-based think-tank said on Monday, its highest ranking since the Cold War, with Pakistan the main recipient.
China's volume of weapons exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162 per cent compared with the previous five-year period, with its share of the global arms trade rising from 2 per cent to 5 per cent, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
"Pakistan - which accounted for 55 per cent of Chinese arms exports - is likely to remain the largest recipient of Chinese arms in the coming years due to large outstanding and planned orders for combat aircraft, submarines and frigates," SIPRI said.
"China's rise has been driven primarily by large-scale arms acquisitions by Pakistan," Paul Holtom, research director at SIPRI said.
"A number of recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states."
Pakistan has long been China's key ally in South Asia.
China replaces Britain in the top five arms-dealing countries between 2008 and 2012, a group dominated by the United States and Russia, which accounted for 30 per cent and 26 per cent of weapons exports, SIPRI said.
"China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states," Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme, said in a statement.
The shift, outlined in SIPRI's Trends in International Arms Transfers report, marks China's first time as a top-five arms exporter since the think-tank's 1986-1990 data period.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked about the report, said China was a responsible arms exporter which strictly adhered to international
China's volume of weapons exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162 per cent compared with the previous five-year period, with its share of the global arms trade rising from 2 per cent to 5 per cent, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said.
"Pakistan - which accounted for 55 per cent of Chinese arms exports - is likely to remain the largest recipient of Chinese arms in the coming years due to large outstanding and planned orders for combat aircraft, submarines and frigates," SIPRI said.
"China's rise has been driven primarily by large-scale arms acquisitions by Pakistan," Paul Holtom, research director at SIPRI said.
"A number of recent deals indicate that China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states."
Pakistan has long been China's key ally in South Asia.
China replaces Britain in the top five arms-dealing countries between 2008 and 2012, a group dominated by the United States and Russia, which accounted for 30 per cent and 26 per cent of weapons exports, SIPRI said.
"China is establishing itself as a significant arms supplier to a growing number of important recipient states," Paul Holtom, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme, said in a statement.
The shift, outlined in SIPRI's Trends in International Arms Transfers report, marks China's first time as a top-five arms exporter since the think-tank's 1986-1990 data period.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei, asked about the report, said China was a responsible arms exporter which strictly adhered to international
