This book is the first in eight years to address the purposes, patterns, and prospects of Chinese arms transfers, and the only book to address China's recent and provocative rise to prominence as an arms trader since the mid-1980s. Focusing on the 1980s and the prospects for the 1990s, the work analyzes the principal arms trade relationships of the People's Republic of China to provide a greater understanding and more nuanced insight into the arms trade policies and goals of the world's fourth largest arms supplier.

This study finds that the economic motive for arms exports--the generating of foreign currency--while important, does not fully or even adequately explain why the Chinese export arms. Rather, Chinese arms exports should be seen in the light of political and strategic motivations, which are often more important. This book should appeal to both scholars and policymakers in the field of international relations.