Even the limited amount of available data suggests that Chinese militarycompanies’ share on the global arms market is second only to that of theirAmerican rivals.

Four Chinese defence industry companies have made it onto the list of the25 largest military equipment producers, with a combined $56.7 billion insales in 2019, according to new analysis by the Stockholm InternationalPeace Research Institute (SIPRI). This placed China second in terms ofmanufacturing and selling armaments, although the analysis appeared toignore several major Chinese companies working in the field of shipbuildingand missile manufacturing due to the inaccessibility of records on theirperformance, The Wall Street Journal noted.

At the same time, SIPRI’s analysis of the available data suggests thatthe Chinese arms market grew slower than the rest of the industry onaverage. The aforementioned Chinese defence companies increased theirrevenues by around 4.8% over the last year.

China has been actively developing its defence industry over the lastdecade, presenting a number of new additions to its military arsenal,including a new domestically-made aircraft carrier, the Type 002 Shandongand the fifth-generation stealth jet Shenyang FC-31.

The US secured first place on the list of countries in terms of arms marketshare, 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. Thecombined total of the 25 companies listed was $361 billion. LockheedMartin, which recently presented its F-35 jets to the market, garnered thetop spot among all defence companies in terms of 2019 revenue with $53.2billion and over 12% growth compared to 2018.

European and Russian defence companies trail the US and China. Two Russiancompanies, Almaz-Antey and United Shipbuilding remained in the top 25, with$634 million in sales, while another one, United Aircraft, dropped out dueto tanking financial results.