Arms trade

China sells arms to more countries and is world’s biggest exporter of armed drones, says Swedish think tank SIPRI

China is selling arms to more countries and is now the world’s leading exporter of armed drones, according to a report released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) on Monday.
But the latest data from the Swedish think tank shows Chinese arms exports increased by a relatively low 2.7 per cent in the period from 2014 to 2018, compared to the previous five years.
Weapons exports from the United States, however, jumped 29 per cent in the 2014-18 period from 2009-13.
Meanwhile, China expanded its customer base to 53 countries in 2014-18, up from 41 in the previous five years.

The researchers also found that China is the world leader in sales of armed drones, or unmanned combat aerial vehicles – supplying 153 of them to 13 countries in the past five years.