In 2022, several Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armour.

Source: European Pravda; Politico, referring to relevant customs and trade data

Details: The shipments took place between June and December 2022, according to the data provided by ImportGenius, a customs data aggregator. Among other things, one of China’s largest state defence contractors, China North Industries Group Corporation Limited sent CQ-A rifles to the Russian company Techkrim, which cooperates with the Russian state and army, in June 2022.

The CQ-A rifles, modelled off of the M16 but tagged as “civilian hunting rifles” in the data, have been reported to be in use by paramilitary police in China and by armed forces from the Philippines to South Sudan and Paraguay. 

Da-Jiang Innovations Science & Technology Co., also known as DJI, sent drone parts, like batteries and cameras, via the United Arab Emirates to a small Russian distributor in November and December 2022. DJI is a Chinese company that has been under US Treasury sanctions since 2021 for providing the Chinese state with drones to surveil the Uyghur minority in the western region of Xinjiang.

Russia managed to import more than 800 tonnes of body armour worth around US$10 million in December last year, according to the customs data from ImportGenius. Those bulletproof vests were manufactured by the Turkish company Ariteks, and most were imported straight from Türkiye, although some of the shipments arrived in Russia via the United Arab Emirates. Russia also imported some body armour from the Chinese company Xinxing Guangzhou Import & Export Co.

In addition to drones, Russia has for months relied on other countries, including China, for navigation equipment, satellite imagery, vehicle components, and other raw materials to help prop up President Vladimir Putin’s year-old war on Ukraine.

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Although the customs data does not show that Beijing is selling a large amount of weapons to Moscow specifically to aid its war effort, it reveals that China is supplying Russian companies with previously unreported “dual-use” equipment: commercial items that could also be used on the battlefield in Ukraine, as Politico notes.

Background: 

• Der Spiegel previously reported that the US had intelligence data that the Chinese government was considering supplying Russia with drones and ammunition for use in the war in Ukraine.
• The White House said it had made it clear to China behind closed doors that it would face serious consequences if it provided lethal aid to Russia.

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