中國躍升爲世界第三大軍火出口國

China has surpassed Germany to become the world’s third-largest arms exporter, but the United States and Russia remain the dominant sellers of weapons worldwide, according to statistics released on Monday by a research organization in Sweden.

據瑞典一家研究機構週一公佈的統計數據，中國已超過德國，成爲世界第三大武器出口國，但美國和俄羅斯仍在全世界武器銷售中占主導地位。

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said China surpassed Germany in 2010-14. With just 5 percent of total exports for that period, China’s share was far below that of the United States, at 31 percent, or Russia, at 27 percent.

斯德哥爾摩國際和平研究所(The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute)稱，中國在2010至2014年間超過了德國。中國在該時期的出口份額只佔世界總額的5％，遠遠低於美國的31％，或俄羅斯的27％。

Although its share of overall sales remained small, China’s exports increased by 143 percent in 2010 to 2014, compared with the previous five-year period, Sipri said. (The organization looks at arms sales over five-year blocks to smooth out jumps from year to year.) Arms exports by the United States increased by 23 percent over the previous five years; Russia’s increased by 37 percent.

該組織表示，雖然中國的銷售在整體份額中佔的比例仍然很小，但中國在2010至2014年間的出口總額比前一個五年期間的總額增長了143％。（斯德哥爾摩國際和平研究所爲將年與年之間銷售額的突增曲線平滑化，以五年爲單位統計軍火銷售量。）美國的武器出口比前五年間增長了23％；俄羅斯增長了37％。

After global arms sales fell over most of the 1980s and ’90s, they have increased in recent years, with the 2010-14 volume 16 percent higher than that of the previous five years, according to the report.

據該組織的報告，全球武器銷量在上個世紀80年代和90年代的大多數時間呈下降趨勢，但近幾年有所增長，2010至2014年間的銷售總額，與前五年間相比，增長了16％。

China’s increase came as Germany and France saw declines in their shares of the arms market. Germany, which had the third-largest share in 2005-9, experienced a drop linked in part to government restrictions on arms exports announced in 2014, the report said. France would have had the third-largest share for 2009-14 had it not postponed plans to sell an amphibious assault ship to Russia last year over concerns about its involvement in the Ukraine conflict, the report added.

中國銷售額增長的同時，德國和法國在武器市場中所佔的份額有所下降。報告稱，2005至2009年間武器市場份額排名第三的德國，一定程度上因政府在2014年宣佈的武器出口限制，份額有所下降。報告補充說，法國原本會成爲2010至2014年間的第三大武器出口國，但出於對俄羅斯捲入烏克蘭衝突的擔憂，法國推遲了去年向俄羅斯出口兩棲攻擊艦的計劃。

China has not commanded such a significant share of the international arms trade since the mid-1980s, when it sold weapons to both sides in the Iran-Iraq war and ranked as high as fourth in annual arms exports, according to Sipri data. In recent years, China has attempted to move beyond the sale of low-margin small arms to more expensive military platforms, with limited success.

據斯德哥爾摩國際和平研究所的數據，自20世紀80年代中期以來，中國的武器出口在全球所佔份額一直不高，那之前，中國曾向兩伊戰爭的雙方出售武器，年度出口份額在全球的排名一度高達第四位。近年來，中國一直試圖從銷售低利潤的小武器向出口更昂貴的軍事設備上轉型，但成效甚微。

“Most countries don’t prefer Chinese weapon systems, but China is basically a supplier of last resort,” said Richard Bitzinger, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. “It sells reasonably good equipment to countries that don’t have a lot of money but want something.”

新加坡拉惹勒南國際研究院(S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies)資深研究員理查德·A·畢辛格(Richard A. Bitzinger)說，“大多數國家不喜歡中國的武器系統，作爲武器供應商，中國基本上是一個不得已的選擇。中國向一些國家出售相當不錯的裝備，這些國家錢不多，但想要些東西。”

The leading buyers of Chinese materiel were Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, which received more than two-thirds of China’s total exports. China also sold armored vehicles, and transport and trainer aircraft, to Venezuela; three frigates to Algeria; antiship missiles to Indonesia; and major arms to 18 African states, the report said.

中國裝備的主要買家是巴基斯坦、孟加拉國和緬甸，這三個國家的購買量佔中國出口總額的三分之二以上。報告說，中國也向委內瑞拉出口了裝甲車、運輸和教練機，向阿爾及利亞出口了三艘護衛艦，向印度尼西亞出口了反艦導彈，還向18個非洲國家出口了大型武器。

“For the most part, Chinese weapons don’t have a major impact on military capability,” Mr. Bitzinger said. “They can close some deals that are good for them, good for their industry, but it’s still hard to find Chinese weapon systems that you could argue are significant game changers when it comes to regional balances of power.”

畢辛格說，“在大多數情況下，中國武器對軍事能力沒有產生重大的影響。中國能做些武器交易、一些有利於本國武器工業的交易，但仍很難找到那種從區域實力平衡的角度來看，能讓人稱之爲產生重大顛覆性影響的中國武器系統。”

China’s efforts to sell complex military platforms have run into obstacles in recent years. Turkey’s plan to buy a $3 billion air-defense missile package from China has stalled over concerns from the United States and Europe. Likewise, analysts say the J-31, China’s stealth fighter jet, may not find widespread interest among foreign buyers because of concerns over its stealthiness, heavy maintenance demands and low-quality engines.

中國推銷複雜軍事裝備的努力近幾年遇到了阻礙。由於來自美國和歐洲的擔憂，土耳其暫停了從中國購買價值30億美元（約合188億元人民幣）的防空導彈系統的計劃。分析人士表示，中國的J-31隱形戰鬥機在國外採購者中也許同樣引不起廣泛的興趣，因爲人們對戰鬥機的隱蔽性、繁重的維護需求，及其低質量的發動機存在擔憂。

China was also the third-largest arms importer during the past five years, behind India and Saudi Arabia. Russia, France and Ukraine were the largest suppliers to China, according to Sipri.

中國在過去五年中也是全球第三大武器進口國，排名在印度和沙特阿拉伯之後。據斯德哥爾摩國際和平研究所的報告，俄羅斯、法國和烏克蘭是中國最大的武器供應國。

The rankings were calculated based on the value of weapons actually delivered to customers using a common unit that eliminates ambiguity in sales definitions among governments.

這些排名是以實際交付給客戶的武器的共同單元價值爲基礎計算的，這種算法消除了各國政府對銷售的不同定義。