China in talks for $3.5bn Russian arms deal

Chinese state media reported this week that Beijing has inked a US$3.5 billion deal to purchase fighters and submarines from Moscow, the first major arms deal between the two countries in almost 10 years, Reuters reported. Russia has not yet confirmed the deal, which would give the People’s Liberation Army 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter plane and four Amur-class conventional submarines. Military experts said negotiations were still ongoing, and that Chinese state media had prematurely reported the deal to enhance the domestic propaganda value of a visit by new Chinese President Xi Jinping to Russia last week. “If the deal had been ready, it would have been signed when Xi was in Russia,” said Reuben Johnson, a Kiev-based military analyst.