A former Chinese senior military industrial engineer has revealed details of how Beijing’s copycat production and design processes work on the factory floor, and the extent of its reliance on Western technology.
The military-industrial complex in China is not as formidable as it appears, and the West can immediately cut off supplies once the Chinese communist regime wages war on Taiwan, according to Zhao Jie, a professional with 13 years of experience in military product manufacturing.
Zhao, 34, arrived in the United States in 2023. He studied computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine tool programming at Luoyang Locomotive Technician College in 2006. After graduating in 2009, he worked in Luoyang in the mechanical processing of military products until 2023.
Luoyang, a major city in central Henan Province, is an industrial hub known for its history and heavy industry. After the founding of communist China, many military-industrial projects were established there, such as the First Tractor Manufacturing Factory, which manufactures army tanks and armored vehicles, the CPC North Enterprise Group (affiliated with the China Ordnance Equipment Group), China Airborne Missile Academy (612 Institute), Luoyang Institute of Electro-optical Devices (613 Institute), and others.
“Many of these departments’ products were manufactured by us, and we worked most on the Air Force products,” he said.
Zhao’s original employer was Luoyang Pi Mu Tai Precision Parts Manufacturing Company, which was reorganized in 2011 into the Luoyang Oqi Precision Parts Manufacturing Company after it was found that foreign enterprises were prohibited from engaging in the research and production of military products. Zhao once served as the deputy director of the company.
Soviet Imitation and the Black Market
Zhao, a Luoyang native, described how much of the CCP’s military technology development relies on copying Soviet and Ukrainian technologies after the Soviet collapse.“Actually, it was only after the Soviet Union’s collapse that the CCP’s military industry underwent major development,” he revealed.
“After the Soviet Union collapsed, its economy fell into crisis, and they had to sell off equipment, such as the Su-27 fighter jet, Kilo-class submarines, and Ukrainian equipment, including Zubr-class air-cushion landing craft [also referred to as 728-type air-cushion landing craft], all of which were sold to China for reproduction.”
The company he worked in took on many reproduction tasks.
“One of my personal experiences was with the Su-27, which was reproduced by China as the J-11, following a 1:1 replica process,” he said. “For the Z-10 armed helicopter, we worked on the optoelectronic equipment, targeting sights, and mechanical processing parts.”
Zhao talked about how after coming to the United States, he met many Chinese who bragged about the CCP’s advanced weapons.
“I told them they didn’t truly understand,” he said. “The CCP’s system, with its political structure, means that technology can only come through imitation, and very little genuine innovation occurs.”
“The military industry prosperity you see is partly due to their imports from the Soviet Union and Ukraine, and a large portion of it is also due to purchases from the weapons black market.”
The former military industry professional suspects that the equipment he saw at the 613 Institute was purchased through the black market.
“Because when the West required China to buy advanced five-axis machine tools from the U.S., Japan, and Germany, they first needed to declare what the machine would be used for. If it was for producing civilian goods, it could be sold to China,” he explained.
“However, if it was for producing military goods, the government would not allow the sale to China. Furthermore, once the machine is sold, the installation location of the machine must be tracked via GPS.”
Chinese Military Production Reliant on West
Zhao, who frequented the 613 Institute while working in Luoyang City, noted that the CCP’s most important machinery comes from abroad.“Once it dares to wage war on Taiwan, the West can immediately cut off the supply of all these machines,” he said.
Zhao once had the opportunity to delve into the Institute’s inside, the Luoyang Optoelectronic Equipment Research Institute, where he witnessed many instances of Chinese military production heavily relying on Western technology for precision machinery and tools.
“I saw many, such as helicopter wreckage, some fighter jet components, and even parts that might have been from some military equipment,” he said.
According to Zhao, the leader of the Institute said these items were all left behind by the United States and other Western countries, including when the U.S. military withdrew from Afghanistan and was unable to take many weapons and equipment back in time.
“Numerous countries left behind a large amount of Western equipment, as well as Soviet-style equipment,” Zhao relayed. “The CCP would pay a high price, using political compromises and financial transactions to acquire them from those regimes, and then distribute them to various domestic research institutes, which are responsible for making 1:1 replicas of the items.”
Zhao even saw items resembling engine blades, all damaged, which he believes indicate that the CCP is sourcing these materials from many countries around the world, especially from war-torn regions, in search of such items.
When Zhao visited companies in the same industry, as well as departments like the 613 Institute, he found that most of the high-end machine tools, along with the necessary measuring instruments for production—such as coordinate measuring machines (CMMs)—are from the West.
“The best CMMs can measure with nano-level precision. Even all the tools used in our company are from the West,” he said. “The reason our company is able to take on projects from these Chinese research institutes is that 80 percent of the equipment we use is imported.”
“For example, the CMMs we use are from Germany; the five-axis machine tools are from the Czech Republic; our measuring tools are all Swiss; among the cutting tools we use, top-tier brands are from Germany and Japan, second-tier brands are from Korea and Taiwan, and the lowest-quality ones are domestic products, such as Xiamen Golden Egret and ZhuZhou Cemented Carbide Cutting Tools.
“Even if the CCP can secretly produce some, once actual combat begins, the daily production volume will be limited. Yet war is all about attrition, so the manufacturing speed must keep up with the rate of consumption,” he said.
Corruption Led to Helicopter Crash
The corruption within the CCP military also leads to compromised product quality, Zhao said.He explained how budget allocations intended for research and development are siphoned off, leading to products that do not meet industry standards.
He gave an example of a Z-10 helicopter crash due to a substandard bolt.
“A bolt for a Z-10 helicopter was produced by an outsourced factory assigned by the 613 Institute. This bolt required a quenching process to ensure a high level of hardness.
“However, that factory, possibly considering cost issues, did not use the quenching process. After the bolt was produced, its surface appeared fine, and only through instrument testing could the issue be detected. No inspection was done at the 613 Institute either, and the bolt was directly installed onto the helicopter. As a result, the helicopter crashed during a test flight.
CCP Military ‘Inflated Balloon’
Zhao likened the CCP’s showcased military strength to an “inflated balloon”—impressive but fragile when pricked with a needle.He noted that he often compares the CCP’s military industry system to the Soviet Union’s since both systems are communist dictatorships.
“They can concentrate funds originally meant for civilian use on the military. Through imitation, or a small amount of innovation, they create something that, like fireworks, is fleeting. It’s even like a balloon—just blown up.”
In contrast, in the West, the military-industrial system is a multi-industry integration involving materials, semiconductors, and mechanical processing.
“The military-industrial sector is the best reflection of a country’s overall strength,” he said.
A China Democracy Party member, Zhao firmly believes that Chinese people in favor of democracy are on the right side of history.
“The CCP does not need to be overthrown; it will collapse on its own, as evidenced by the outcome of the Soviet Union,” he said.
Zhao also called on the international community to adopt more stringent measures to sanction private companies with CCP ties or those that cooperate with the CCP.
“Especially when it comes to controlling the import of Western materials, including tools, machine tools, and other related items,” he said.
“If the CCP cannot access the raw materials and machinery needed for military production, it will be unable to continue.”
