So far, China has imported a lot of military hardware made in Russia, which is why the creation of an after-sale support center is one of the most important issues on the bilateral agenda. Russia’s Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation (FSVTS) believes that it will be economically viable to set up a maintenance center for S-300 and S-400 missile systems in China, FSVTS head Dmitry Shugaev told reporters.

HQ-9, the Chinese equivalent of the Russian S-300 air defense system (Picture source: Army Recognition)

"Considering that China continues to operate S-300 missile systems and given the delivery of new S-400 systems, the creation of a center for the after-sale support of the long-range defense systems would be logical and economically feasible," he noted. The agency’s director recalled that a maintenance center for the Tor-M1 air defense missile systems had been established in 2017. "Projects for full service support of helicopters as well as in the field of aircraft engine building are at different stages of development," he added.