China Offers Cheaper Submarines to Egypt
By Aiswarya Lakshmi
September 16, 2015
China is offering to build submarines for Egypt that are cheaper than vessels on offer from Germany, sources told Reuters, as Beijing looks to enhance weapons exports over a normal patron bottom in Asia.
According to sources, Beijing has sought to undercut Western submarine makers on price and by offering attractive export-credit terms for sales in Asia. It has won deals with Pakistan and Bangladesh so far.
China displaced Germany as the world’s third-largest arms exporter, though nearly 70 percent of those weapons went to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, says the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute in March.
An Egyptian military source confirmed that China had offered to sell submarines to Cairo. “We are studying it, but it is not an easy decision,” the source said.
Chinese submarines are built by Wuchang Shipbuilding, which is part of state-run China Shipbuilding Industry Corp.
