A military think tank revealed on Monday that China has nearly doubled its weapon exports in the last five years, as it continues to allocate a budget to creating a high-end arms manufacturing market.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, between 2011 and 2015, arm imports in China dropped to 25 percent compared with the previous five years. This signifies an increasing confidence in locally manufactured weaponry in spite of some noted key areas of weaknesses.

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Meanwhile, in this same period, exports of major arms alone jumped to 88 percent, although the country still ranks third next to the United States and Russia as the largest weapon exporter in the world - accounting for only 5.9 percent of global exports.

Siemon Wezeman, a senior researcher from the SIPRI Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, revealed that until a decade ago, China was unable to provide low-tech equipment but this has already changed. "The equipment that they produce is much more highly advanced than ten years ago, and attracts interest from some of the bigger markets," he noted.

The communist county has allocated billions to establish its very own weapons industry. Last year, its total military budget reached a staggering 886.9 billion yuan ($141.45 billion), a 10 percent increase from 2014.

Meanwhile, in the same period, the weapon exports of the United States and Russia also spiked by 27 and 28 percent, respectively. Also, major weapon exports of France and Germany, which are named as the fourth and fifth biggest arm exporters, respectively, dropped over the same time frame.

The report discovered that buyers of most of these weapons were from neighboring Asian nations and Oceania, with Pakistan accounting for 35 percent followed by Bangladesh and Myanmar.  However, despite the developments, China still needs imported weapons such as large aircraft for transport; helicopters; and engines for aircraft, ships and vehicles.

Tagsweapon industry, arm industry, arm exports, china, weaponry