China opens up defense industry

After decades of strict control over its weapons production, China said it would begin granting licenses to private and foreign companies to produce sub-systems, special auxiliary parts and other components for China's military. Liu Dongkui, a director at China's Commission of Science, Technology, and Industry for National Defense, told the Xinhua News Agency that "if they meet certain standards … private and foreign-funded companies face no policy barriers in the second category", referring to China's non-core weapons technology and equipment. RAND Corp has said that China could triple its current military budget to US$185bn in 20 years, or less than half of the US 2006 US$440bn military budget.