Chinese company wins Turkey contract for defense system

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said Friday that the country's military exports do no harm to the peace, security or stability of relevant regions in response to Turkey's decision to procure HQ-9 long-range air and missile defense systems from China.

"The Chinese government carries out defense trade cooperation in a prudent and responsible manner," said Hong, adding that the defense trade cooperation between China and Turkey is taking place under normal circumstances.

Li Daguang, a professor with the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army, told the Global Times that it has been a principle for China's military exports to not undermine peace and stability in relevant regions.

In a Thursday statement, Turkish Defense Minister Ismet Yilmaz announced that the government was awarding a $4-billion long-range air and missile defense system contract to the State-owned China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp (CPMIEC).

The US-based defensenews.com Thursday reported that the contract was initially expected to be worth $4 billion, but a procurement official said CPMIEC, the Chinese manufacturer, reduced its proposal to around $3 billion.

A Turkish official was quoted as saying that the country has decided to begin talks with the Chinese company for the joint production of the air-defense systems and its missiles in Turkey.

"HQ-9's high performance/price ratio attracted Turkey, and it is relatively advanced in terms of air defense," said Li, adding that Turkey hopes to build an independent air-defense system to protect itself from any spillover of the conflicts in its neighboring Syria.

Turkey has no long-range missile defense system of its own, but NATO has deployed the US-built Patriot system there since 2012, Reuters reported.

China in 2012 became the world's fifth-biggest arms supplier with a market share of 5 percent, said the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.