THE Chinese government launched its global infrastructure project, the Belt and Road Initiative’Ìý on September 7, 2013. The project is also known as One Belt, One Road. The ‘belt’ refers to the Silk Road economic belt, a network of overland road and railway routes connecting nations. The ‘road’ refers to the 21st century Maritime Silk Road, a series of shipping lanes and port developments. The Belt and Road Initiative is also viewed as the resurgence of the ancient Silk Road, a vast network of land and sea trade routes connecting countries across the continents in Asia, Africa, Europe and South America.
Taking off in 2013, the cumulative investment in BRI projects has reached $1.305 trillion. ‘Preliminary data on Chinese engagement in the 150 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative through investments and construction contracts show record levels of engagement worth $66.2 billion in construction contracts and $57.1 billion in investments for the first six months of 2025. This is almost twice the value of the first six months of the previous record in 2024.’
The BRI has five components: transport infrastructure building railways, highways, airports, and bridges; energy infrastructure constructing oil and gas pipelines, power plants and renewable energy projects; trade corridor to develop special economic zones and industrial parks along the routes; digital Silk Road to expand telecoms networks, e-commerce partnership and smart city technologies and, most important, the finance, from the Chinese state-owned policy banks in association with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. It does not contain any military component. Nonetheless, a defence Silk Road has quietly grown.
Through the consistent and rapid economic growth backed by technology advancement, China is transforming its regional posture into global power house. China is progressively making non-military strategic moves to challenge the unipolar world order. In the recent trade war triggered by the US president Donald Trump, China was the only country to threaten the United States with 125 per cent counter tariff. China’s successes in strategic moves, along with its flexible policy of arms sales to foreign countries, testify to a growing customer confidence. This confidence is in Chinese military hardware and software. This trend, in turn, strengthens the construction of the defence Silk Road.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, mostly Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar were small-scale buyers of Chinese weapons. Today, the unspoken defence Silk Road has reached countries in Asia, Europe, Africa and South America. Over the years, China has widened its arms market from North Korea in East Asia to Serbia in East Europe; from Egypt, Ethiopia, Algeria and Nigeria on the African continent to Bolivia and Venezuela in South America.
The most notable products in the export basket included fighter planes, armed drones, both air and underwater, artillery pieces, multiple launch rocket systems, main battle tanks, short-to-medium range air defence systems, mechanised infantry equipment, war ships and so forth. Besides, there could be many other deals for small arms, ammunition, military vehicles and so forth which may not have been reported in the public domain. The geopolitical-military landscape is constantly shifting with new deals being signed regularly.
According to SIPRI, in 2019–2023, China exported military goods worth $5.8 billion, which was 5.9 per cent of global arms exports, making it the fourth-largest arms exporter in the world. Countries in Asia and Oceania accounted for 77 per cent of China’s arms exports while states in Africa accounted for 14 per cent. Over five years, China has transferred major arms to 44 countries. Pakistan remains the largest buyer of Chinese weapons.
Primary reasons for the increase in Chinese share in the global arms market are affordable price, easy accessibility and politically flexible weapons export policy. While countries are now accepting Chinese weapons systems in their inventory, some exhibit hesitancy because of potential political backlash from the west.
The Russia-Ukraine war is a factor driving new buyers to China’s military hardware. The Russian-Ukraine frontline is an extreme priority for the Russian government. The war may have slowed down Russia’s exports to its traditional customers who are switching to China. Besides the domestic compulsion, the reported under-performance of the weapons systems, especially air defence, might have impacted the Russian arms market. The perceived non-performance of Russian S-300 systems to counter Israeli airstrikes in Syria, Iran and in India (S-400 against Pakistan) damaged their reputation for effectiveness. Following the significant losses of its air defence in the 12-day conflict with Israel in June 13–24, Iran has reportedly switched to Chinese air defence systems.
Apart from the reported disappointment with the S-300s, Iran was disappointed about Russia’s non-delivery of Su-35 Flanker fighter jets that it ordered and paid for early in this decade. Such disappointment together with the urgent need to rebuild its air defence may have prompted Iran to pursue China’s Chengdu J-10C Vigorous Dragon fighter. China’s timely delivery of the air defence systems could boost customer trust in Chinese weapons and commitment.
Traditionally, China showcases its military developments through large-scale military parade featuring the advancement in fighter planes, missiles, tanks, warships, space warfare, etc. Displays of array of military hardware are more than a branding exercise of products. As part of the continuation of the branding strategy, the massive display of military arsenal during the parade on September 3 marked China’s largest military showcase since 2019, highlighting its emergence as a global military power going down the defence Silk Road.
The massive display of Chinese military arsenal during the parade was a potent symbol of a fundamental shift in the global defence landscape. The quiet growth of the defence Silk Road underscores a calculated geopolitical-military strategy that extends far beyond mere arms sales. By offering affordable, politically flexible alternatives to western and Russian systems, China is not only capturing market share. It is also cultivating strategic dependencies, reshaping possible alliance structures and steadily pulling nations into its strategic orbit. This cementing of defence partnership, exemplified by clients from Pakistan to Iran, Myanmar, North Korea and Serbia, empowers China to project influence, challenging the unipolar world order not only economically, but also in the crucial realm of security. Ultimately, as the Belt and Road Initiative builds infrastructure, the defence Silk Road securing a coalition, signaling China’s emergence as a full-spectrum global power whose strategic reach could be defined by the reach of its exported arms.
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Mohammad Abdur Razzak ([email protected]), a retired commodore of the Bangladesh Navy, is a security analyst.
