Sipri Report: Pakistan is biggest Chinese arms buyer

STOCKHOLM: Pakistan is the biggest buyer of Chinese arms, accounting for 55 per cent of China’s exports, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

The report also counted Pakistan as the third largest arms importer after India and China.

South Korea and Singapore were ranked fourth and fifth. For its part, China has passed Britain to become the world’s fifth-largest arms exporter.

The report says Chinese weapon exports between 2008 and 2012 rose 162 percent over the previous five-year period.

It said the United States remains the world’s top arms exporter, accounting for 30 per cent of the market, followed by Russia at 26 per cent, Germany at seven per cent, France at six per cent, and China at five per cent.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2013.