In 2016, Beijing launched a new aerospace conglomerate called Aero Engine Corp. of China. It had a challenging mandate: to develop top-line aircraft engines, a technology China had long struggled to master.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Less than a decade later, Beijing\u2019s newest stealth fighters are entering service with what officials call \u201cChinese hearts,\u201d or indigenously made engines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The progress marked a milestone in China\u2019s quest to forge an arms industry worthy of a rising global power. For years, China\u2019s rise obscured a sobering reality: It couldn\u2019t make all its own weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing is now not only producing its own armaments, it is also selling more abroad. In some military technologies, China appears to be matching major arms producers such as Russia and the U.S., or even pulling ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ability to churn out advanced armaments is a key element in Chinese leader Xi Jinping\u2019s vision of making his country less reliant on the outside world<\/a> for everything from food and energy to semiconductors. A more self-sufficient China is essential for preventing Western nations from locking it into a strategic stranglehold, Xi has argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> How Beijing Built Arms Industry to Rival the West\u2014New jet engines show results of China\u2019s military self-sufficiency push@ByChunHan<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/KKed5vXiO0<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/KKed5vXiO0<\/a><\/p>— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) December 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>