MOSCOW: Russian arms sales to China could shrink from 40% to 10%, the head of a state-controlled arms exporter said on Wednesday.
In the past several decades Russia has been selling Su-27 and Su-30 fighters, Varshavyanka-class diesel submarines, and air-defense systems to China, among other types of weapons and equipment.
Rosoboronexport's general director Anatoly Isaikin did not say exactly when the Chinese share was expected to drop, stressing, however, that Russia was unfazed by the prospect.
“After all, sales volumes [across the world] are still high,” he said in an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
He said Russia's cooperation with Beijing “is reaching a fundamentally new level – the development of dual-purpose products with high-tech components.”
Isaikin said Russia had signed the first military contract this year for the delivery of more than 100 engines for the Chinese J-10 fighter.
He added that China would continue to buy military transport aircraft, fuel tankers, and aircraft engines from Russia, and was also interested in air-defense system and naval systems.
