Russia moves military-industrial companies to China: Key details
Illustrative photo: drones (Getty Images)
Russian companies that serve the needs of the Russian military-industrial complex have begun shifting part of their production to China, according to the US research center C4ADS.
Moscow is becoming increasingly dependent on Beijing's technological and manufacturing support amid the war against Ukraine and Western sanctions.
One example is the Russian group of companies Element, which manufactures microelectronics for the defense sector. In 2024, the company began assembling chips in China.
In addition, it registered at least four subsidiaries in the country and sought Chinese language instructors for its employees.
Element supplies electronic components to Russian defense enterprises and has been subject to US sanctions since 2022.
In April 2026, according to researchers, the company acquired intellectual property in the field of power electronics worth over 100 million rubles from the Chinese defense contractor Shijiazhuang Tonhe Electronics.
Another example is the StankoMashStroy plant, which planned to set up production of five-axis machine tools in the Chinese province of Shaanxi in partnership with the local company Baoji Machine Tool Group.
Such equipment is used for high-precision machining of complex parts. Among the Russian company's customers in 2025 were the Votkinsk Plant, which manufactures ballistic missiles, and the Izhevsk Electromechanical Plant Kupol, which specializes in air defense systems.
At the same time, C4ADS researchers were unable to confirm that production in China has already begun. However, they found that Oleg Kochetkov, the owner of StankoMashStroy, registered a company called Shaanxi Stermasi Technology in China. The Russian plant itself has been subject to US sanctions since 2023.
Russian entities are also attempting to relocate production to China. According to the agency Kommersant, the United Microelectronics Corporation considered acquiring stakes in small Chinese factories. This could provide Russian customers with access to microchip production.
Who Stands to Gain the Most from Russian-Chinese Cooperation
As the report's authors note, joint research allows Russian and Chinese defense companies to validate their designs, reduce testing costs, and move more quickly from design to production.
Russia offers China scientific and engineering expertise inherited from the Soviet Union. In return, Beijing has large-scale production capacity, modern technologies, and the resources to implement these developments in the defense industry.
Allen Maggard, a senior analyst at C4ADS, believes that in the long term, China stands to gain the most from such cooperation.
Russian developments and expertise can help Chinese companies create new types of weapons and gradually displace Russian manufacturers from international markets.
Henry Zimmer of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) notes that, due to the war against Ukraine and Western sanctions, Russia cannot do without Beijing’s military-technical support.
He predicts that cooperation between the two countries will continue to expand in 2027 unless the US and Europe increase pressure on Moscow and Beijing.
At the same time, China may limit its cooperation if it begins to threaten its economic interests or creates the risk of new Western sanctions.
Access to Western markets, capital, and technology remains more important to Beijing than its relations with Moscow.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that China had sufficient leverage over Russia to persuade Putin to end the war against Ukraine.
