The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reported (January 27) that, based on data from 2015 to 2017, China is the world’s second-biggest arms producer, behind the United States and ahead of Russia. It added that four Chinese companies had combined estimated arms sales of $54.1 billion for 2017, which would put them among the top 20 arms producers in the world. It said “Three of the companies would be ranked in the top 10”. Total U.S. arms sales in 2017 were $226.6 billion, and in Russia, $37.7 billion, according to the think tank’s Top 100 list for that year. Aircraft and avionics group Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) would rank as the sixth-largest arms producer, with estimated 2017 sales of $20.1 billion.
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