China is Copying Russian Weapons Through Espionage
World
The People's Republic of China is engaged in large-scale theft of technologies and is replicating Russian weapon systems. Moreover, Beijing systematically violates the terms of licensing agreements with Russian suppliers, according to ChinaPower.
According to ChinaPower analysts, China has been actively copying Russian weapons and massively stealing intellectual property and technologies. This, combined with Russia’s war against Ukraine, has led to a significant decrease in the flow of Russian arms to China in recent years. Between 2009 and 2023, China’s arms imports dropped by 40 percent compared to the previous 15 years, and Russia’s share in China’s arms imports fell from 85 to 68 percent.
The center reports that over the past 20 years, at least 21 cases of espionage and cyberattacks by China on Russian defense enterprises have been recorded, especially in the field of aerospace technologies. In 2004, there were three court cases resulting in the conviction of seven Russians who had transferred confidential information on aviation and satellite developments to China.
Since then, the situation has not changed. Between 2021 and 2023, four more incidents involving the leakage of sensitive aerospace and laser technology data were documented.
Analysts note that espionage is only part of the issue. According to ChinaPower, China has systematically violated licensing agreements with Russian suppliers by copying and adapting technologies for its own use. For example, the Chinese J-11 fighter jet was copied from Russia’s Su-27, and the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system bears a strong resemblance to the S-300.
In 2019, the Russian state corporation Rostec officially stated that 500 cases of illegal copying of its products had been recorded over 17 years. In a rare public comment, the company directly accused China of cloning Sukhoi aircraft, jet engines, carrier-based fighters, air defense systems, portable surface-to-air missiles, and counterparts to the Pantsir air defense system.
After copying Russian technology, China significantly reduced its purchases and began independently producing various types of modern weapons — from fighter jets to warships. Nevertheless, in the critically important field of jet engines, dependence on Russia remains. From 2017 to 2023, over half of the total value of China’s weapons imports consisted of jet engines, most of which were supplied by Russia.
The center reports that over the past 20 years, at least 21 cases of espionage and cyberattacks by China on Russian defense enterprises have been recorded, especially in the field of aerospace technologies. In 2004, there were three court cases resulting in the conviction of seven Russians who had transferred confidential information on aviation and satellite developments to China.
Since then, the situation has not changed. Between 2021 and 2023, four more incidents involving the leakage of sensitive aerospace and laser technology data were documented.
Analysts note that espionage is only part of the issue. According to ChinaPower, China has systematically violated licensing agreements with Russian suppliers by copying and adapting technologies for its own use. For example, the Chinese J-11 fighter jet was copied from Russia’s Su-27, and the HQ-9 surface-to-air missile system bears a strong resemblance to the S-300.
In 2019, the Russian state corporation Rostec officially stated that 500 cases of illegal copying of its products had been recorded over 17 years. In a rare public comment, the company directly accused China of cloning Sukhoi aircraft, jet engines, carrier-based fighters, air defense systems, portable surface-to-air missiles, and counterparts to the Pantsir air defense system.
After copying Russian technology, China significantly reduced its purchases and began independently producing various types of modern weapons — from fighter jets to warships. Nevertheless, in the critically important field of jet engines, dependence on Russia remains. From 2017 to 2023, over half of the total value of China’s weapons imports consisted of jet engines, most of which were supplied by Russia.
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