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Pakistan's unverified claims & move to buy J-35 5th-gen jets see Chinese maker's shares soar high
Pakistan's government said Friday on social media that it intends to acquire 40 J-35 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and HQ-19 ballistic missile defence systems. read more
Shares of the company that makes China's J-35 fighter aircraft have soared, courtesy Pakistan. Reuters
Shares of Chinese defence firms surged Monday (June 9) after Pakistan announced plans to purchase a fleet of advanced Chinese-made fighter jets, a move that could mark China's first export of its fifth-generation stealth aircraft.
AVIC Shenyang Aircraft Company, the manufacturer of the J-35 stealth fighter jet, hit its 10 per cent daily trading limit in Shanghai, building on a three-day rally. Other defence stocks also jumped, with Aerospace Nanhu Electronic Information Technology Co. climbing as much as 15 per cent, Bloomberg reported.
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Interestingly, this is not the first time defence stocks in China have soared following India-Pakistan tensions.
Pakistan government's signalling
Pakistan's government said Friday (June 6) on social media that it intends to acquire 40 J-35 fighters, KJ-500 airborne early warning and control aircraft, and HQ-19 ballistic missile defence systems.
The J-35, which is claimed to feature advanced stealth capabilities, was developed by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation and was first unveiled publicly at the 2024 Zhuhai Airshow. If finalised, the deal would mark the first known foreign sale of the aircraft.
Tensions between Pakistan and India remain high following clashes in early May that involved air, drone and missile strikes, along with artillery and small arms fire. In a May 31 interview, India's Chief of Defence Staff Anil Chauhan confirmed India had lost fighter jets during the conflict, though he did not provide details.
Last month, Pakistan claimed that Chinese-made J-10C fighters helped shoot down six Indian jets, including French-built Rafales. India has denied the effectiveness of the weapons systems used by Pakistan, saying its forces successfully carried out retaliatory strikes deep inside Pakistani territory.
The reported deal also comes amid growing interest in Chinese military hardware in Southeast Asia. Indonesia is considering a Chinese offer of J-10 jets after traditionally relying on aircraft from the United States, Russia and other suppliers.
China's defence industry has continued to advance despite domestic corruption scandals. In December, Beijing launched its first next-generation amphibious assault ships, which analysts say are the largest of their kind. Last year, a video purportedly showing a test flight of a sixth-generation Chinese fighter jet went viral online, prompting another wave of gains in defence stocks.
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Indian Express
35 minutes ago
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Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
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It returned in February under a licensing deal with the Reliance Industries unit which launched selling Shein-branded clothes produced in local factories. In contrast, Shein's other websites mainly list goods from China. Reliance, controlled by Asia's richest person, Mukesh Ambani , has contracted 150 garment manufacturers and is in discussion with 400 more, said the two people, declining to be identified due to confidentiality concerns. The goal is 1,000 Indian factories making Shein-branded clothes within a year for both the Indian market and to service some of Shein's global websites, the people said. Shein initially wants to list India-made clothes on its U.S. and British websites, one of the people said. Discussions have been ongoing for months and the launch time of six to 12 months could change depending on supplier numbers, the person said. The scale of supplier expansion and export time frame is reported here for the first time. 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Time of India
an hour ago
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For all the Chinese government's efforts to prevent price cuts by market leader BYD Co. from turning into a vicious spiral, analysts say a combination of weaker demand and extreme overcapacity will slice into profits at the strongest brands and force feebler competitors to fold. Even after the number of EV makers started shrinking for the first time last year, the industry is still using less than half its production capacity. Chinese authorities are trying to minimize the fallout, chiding the sector for 'rat race competition' and summoning heads of major brands to Beijing last week. Yet previous attempts to intervene have had little success. For the short term at least, investors are betting few automakers will escape unscathed: BYD, arguably the biggest winner from industry consolidation, has lost $21.5 billion in market value since its shares peaked in late May. 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Unpredictable pricing discourages long-term trust — already people are complaining on China's social media, wondering why they should buy a car now when it may be cheaper next week — while there's a chance automakers, as they cut costs to stay afloat, may reduce investment in quality, safety and after-sales service. Auto CEOs were told last week they must 'self-regulate' and shouldn't sell cars below cost or offer unreasonable price cuts, according to people familiar with the matter. The issue of zero-mileage cars also came up — where vehicles with no distance on their odometers are sold by dealers into the second-hand market, seen widely as a way for automakers to artificially inflate sales and clear inventory. Chinese automakers have been discounting a lot more aggressively than their foreign counterparts. BofA's Murphy said US automakers should just get out. 'Tesla probably needs to be there to compete with those companies and understand what's going on, but there's a lot of risk there for them.' Others leave no room for doubt that BYD, China's No. 1 selling car brand, is leading the way on price cuts. 'It's obvious to everyone that the biggest player is doing this,' Jochen Siebert , managing director at auto consultancy JSC Automotive, said. 'They want a monopoly where everybody else gives up.' BYD's aggressive tactics are raising concerns over the potential dumping of cars, dealership management issues and 'squeezing out suppliers,' he said. The pricing turmoil is also unfolding against a backdrop of significant overcapacity. The average production utilization rate in China's automotive industry was mere 49.5% in 2024, data compiled by Shanghai-based Gasgoo Automotive Research Institute show. An April report by AlixPartners meanwhile highlights the intense competition that's starting to emerge among new energy vehicle makers, or companies that produce pure battery cars and plug-in hybrids. In 2024, the market saw its first ever consolidation among NEV-dedicated brands, with 16 exiting and 13 launching. 'The Chinese automotive market, despite its substantial scale, is growing at a slower speed. Automakers have to put top priority now on grabbing more market share,' said Ron Zheng, a partner at global consultancy Roland Berger GmbH. Jiyue Auto shows how quickly things can change. A little over a year after launching its first car, the automaker jointly backed by big names Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. and technology giant Baidu Inc., began to scale down production and seek fresh funds. It's a dilemma for all carmakers, but especially smaller ones. 'If you don't follow suit once a leading company makes a price move, you might lose the chance to stay at the table,' AlixPartners consultant Zhang Yichao said. He added that China's low capacity utilization rate, which is 'fundamentally fueling' the competition, is now even under more pressure from export uncertainties. While the push to find an outlet for excess production is thrusting more Chinese brands to export, international markets can only offer some relief. 'The US market is completely closed and Japan and Korea may close very soon if they see an invasion of Chinese carmakers,' Siebert said. 'Russia, which was the biggest export market last year, is now becoming very difficult. I also don't see Southeast Asia as an opportunity anymore.' The pressure of cost cutting has also led analysts to express concern over supply chain finance risks. A price cut demand by BYD to one of its suppliers late last year attracted scrutiny around how the car giant may be using supply chain financing to mask its ballooning debt. A report by accounting consultancy GMT Research put BYD's true net debt at closer to 323 billion yuan ($45 billion), compared with the 27.7 billion yuan officially on its books as of the end of June 2024. The pain is also bleeding into China's dealdership network. Dealership groups in two provinces have gone out of business since April, both of them ones that were selling BYD cars. Beijing's meeting with automakers last week wasn't the first attempt at a ceasefire. Two years ago, in mid 2023, 16 major automakers, including Tesla Inc., BYD and Geely signed a pact, witnessed by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, to avoid 'abnormal pricing.' Within days though, CAAM deleted one of the four commitments, saying that a reference to pricing in the pledge was inappropriate and in breach of a principle enshrined in the nation's antitrust laws. The discounting continued unabated.
