Zhuhai Airshow returns for 15th time

The Chinese military and its arms contractors plan to display many of their latest hardware at the upcoming 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, the largest arms show in the nation.

Addressing a news conference about the biennial exhibition in Beijing on Wednesday, Lieutenant General Yu Qingjiang, a deputy commander of the People's Liberation Army Air Force, said that the Air Force will bring an unprecedented amount of aircraft, missiles, radar and other equipment to the event, which is scheduled to take place from Nov 12 to 17 in Guangdong province's coastal city of Zhuhai.

Popularly known as the Zhuhai Airshow, the China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition is one of the largest defense exhibitions in the world and the only regular occasion for members of the public to closely observe Chinese weapons, especially those designed for export purposes.

"During the flight performance at the 15th Zhuhai Airshow, new types of combat planes developed by the Air Force in recent years will make their public debut and show our capability to conduct long-range power projection and air combat operations," he said. "We will bring all the hardware that you wish to see and that we can show you by that time."

Wu Jiwei, spokesman for the State-owned aircraft conglomerate Aviation Industry Corp of China, said at the conference that his company will bring a total of 260 fighter jets, helicopters, drones, missiles and other equipment to the arms exhibition, much more than the hardware AVIC displayed in last Zhuhai Airshow in 2022.

Liu Shuangxia, a senior publicity manager at China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp, said her company, the country's largest missile maker, will present more than 100 vehicles and pieces of equipment to Zhuhai, including the HQ-9BE long-range air-defense missile and YJ-12E supersonic anti-ship cruise missile.

She noted that CASIC will also highlight its upgraded version of an advanced anti-drone system, which incorporates missiles, air-defense guns and laser equipment.

Hao Changfeng, spokesman for China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp, the country's dominant space contractor, said the exhibition will be the first time the company shows full-size models of the Chang'e 6 lunar probe — which brought to Earth the first samples from the moon's far side in June, the Queqiao 2 relay satellite as well as the Long March 12 rocket.