Auteur de la note

Georg Bossle Asia Centre

Georg Bossle

Georg Bossle is a German graduate holding a bachelor’s degree in Global Governance, Economics and Legal Order from ESADE Law School in Spain and currently pursuing a Dual Master’s degree in Asian and International Affairs at Renmin University of China and King’s College London in the UK. During his undergrad he has also studied at Sciences Po in Paris, Tufts University in Boston, and Keio University in Tokyo. His interests lie in international security, defence policy, and geopolitics, with a particular focus on the Indo-Pacific region. Before beginning his undergraduate studies, Georg completed a two-year vocational training programme in Hong Kong, which sparked his interest in Asian political and economic systems. During his final year in Beijing, he conducted research on China’s security and foreign policy, further deepening his commitment to understanding global strategic dynamics.

Autres analyses

Asia Sparks | From Sales to Strategy: How China Uses Arms Exports to Build Influence, Dependence, and Military Capability • Georg Bossle

From Sales to Strategy: How China Uses Arms Exports to Build Influence, Dependence, and Military Capability • Georg Bossle | Asia Sparks
PDF

From Sales to Strategy: How China Uses Arms Exports to Build Influence, Dependence, and Military Capability

“From Sales to Strategy” By Georg Bossle, Sparker at Asia Centre.

↑ Download the Spark via the PDF button above.

 

A few weeks into the War with Iran, reports increasingly came in that suggested that Iran used Chinese-origin commercial satellite imagery to improve its ability to identify and strike U.S. and allied targets in the Middle East, while U.S. Space Command has publicly acknowledged that Iran’s use of such forced a major adjustment in how the United States operates in the conflict zones (Reuters 2026). These satellites are just the latest example of Chinese hardware being exported to its partners, active conflict zones, and across the global south. Under the growing tension between the US and China these exports should be understood not merely as commercial transactions, but as instruments of China’s great-power ambition and its broader aspiration to shape a more Sinocentric order. The essay argues that China’s transfers of weapons and dual-use technologies are driven by three mutually reinforcing strategic benefits: first, to stabilize partner states domestically to protect Chinese economic interests and overseas investments; second, to generate political leverage and draw recipient countries more firmly into China’s sphere of influence; and third, to strengthen China’s own defence-industrial capabilities by enhancing material learning, operational feedback, and opportunities for iterative weapons development.

Summary:

China’s Strategic Context: Arms Exports within Great-Power Diplomacy

  1. Partner stabilization and economic interest protection
  2. Building leverage and strategic alignment
  3. Operational learning and defence-industrial upgrading

 

 

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Asia Centre has developed a new program: Asia Sparks, a coaching program for the new generation of researchers. It brings together seniors, called coaches, and Sparkers, young researchers wanting to produce intellectual work on Asia. Each research project is referred to as a “Spark.” This project is coordinated by Élodie Papin, Secretary General of Asia Centre, and the coaches consist of various experts from Asia Centre. Ultimately, the work produced may be published in Asia Trend issues.

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