China has become the world’s fifth largest exporter of major conventional arms, replacing Britain, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report on Monday.
The report, which contains new data on international arms transfers, says this is the first time China has been one of the top five weapons exporters since the end of the cold war. Overall, international transfers of major conventional arms grew by 17 percent between 2003-07 and 2008-12.
According to SIPRI, the five largest suppliers of major conventional weapons in 2008-12 were the US, which accounted for 30 per cent of global arms exports, Russia (26 percent), Germany (7 per cent), France (6 per cent) and China (5 per cent).
Britain has for the first time been excluded from the top five since at least 1950. “China’s displacement of the UK is the first change in the composition of the top five exporters in 20 years,” the report says.
SIPRI noted that Chinese exports of major conventional weapons increased 162 per cent between 2003-07 and 2008-12, and the country’s share of international arms exports grew from two to five per cent.