DoD Says Mideast, North Africa May Become China's 2nd Largest Arms Export Market

The US Department of Defense has suggested in its annual report that the Middle East and North Africa become China's second largest arms export market in the foreseeable future.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Middle East and North Africa are likely to become the second largest arms export market for China, the US Department of Defense said in a report to Congress.

"China is one of only a few global suppliers of such equipment and faces little competition for sales to the Middle East and North Africa. This likely will result in the Middle East and North Africa surpassing Sub-Saharan Africa as China’s second largest arms export market," the report said on Tuesday.

The assessment was part of the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on China's military and security developments.

The report noted that China was the world's fourth largest arms supplier from 2011 to 2015, with more than $20 billion in weapons sales.

Nearly half of that amount — or $9 billion — was comprised of arms deals with Asia-Pacific countries, primarily Pakistan.

The Pentagon report said that China's ability to remain among the world's top five arms exporters depends upon continued strong sales to Pakistan.