Retaining existing customers and a potential resurgence of Russian competition may be among the biggest challenges for sales of Chinese weapons systems, according to a report from an Indian think tank.

The study, published this month by the Bengaluru-based Takshashila Institution, questioned whether weapons made in China were “foolproof or in muddy waters” and cautioned against the “reductive assumption that Chinese weaponry is uniformly poor in quality”.

Instead, the report’s author Anushka Saxena argued that assessing Chinese military hardware required a “far more disaggregated and theatre-specific assessment than the headlines typically afford”.

While some systems performed well under favourable conditions, persistent problems with reliability, spare parts and after-sales support continued to undermine China’s ambitions as a major arms exporter, the study found.

According to the report, Beijing’s future in the global arms market may depend less on winning new customers than on retaining existing ones. It also noted that China’s weapons exports and defence partnerships had a direct impact on India’s security.

In May 2025, Pakistan relied heavily on Chinese-made aircraft and air defence systems during its four-day conflict with India.