Armaments cooperation and competition between Russia and China on the modern global arms market as factors in Russian-Chinese relations

The study discusses the historical backgrounds to armaments cooperation between Russia and China and reveals its present-day characteristics against the background of growing competition in the modern global arms market. The paper shows that arms exports are increasingly being used as an influential mechanism for international relations in general. For China, its military exports are an effective geopolitical tool in the face of growing strategic competition from the United States of America. According to Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russia controls over 23% of the global arms market. It supplies 70% of its arms to India, Vietnam, China, and Algeria. The Russian Federation is actively seeking new relevant supply markets since weapons are the country’s main export product along with energy. The authors substantiate the thesis that Russian-Chinese armaments cooperation may have a negative impact on relations between the countries. However, globally Moscow and Beijing focus on comprehensive bilateral cooperation. In conclusion, there is a list of factors that can strengthen Russian-Chinese relationships.