There is no letup in Beijing's military development, particularly in higher-end activities with quality rather than mass an increasing priority, says the Pentagon in its latest annual public threat assessment of China's military and security developments. Moreover, as China tries to satisfy its ever-increasing hunger for foreign energy, it has turned to exporting everything from advanced infantry weapons to a range of increasingly sophisticated warplanes. New programs, such as the Jiangkai Ⅱ-class guided missile frigates, for example, are now seen as equipped with medium-range HHQ-16 vertically launched surface-to-air missiles, whereas in last year's report that upgrade was still pending.In space, in particular, China appears to have progressed. 2010 saw a record 15 Chinese launches, the report points out, with five BeiDou-2 navigation satellites orbited for a regional network using 10 spacecraft that should be in place next year; the full constellation of 35 BeiDou-2s should be in place around 2020. Beijing also launched nine remote-sensing satellites last year alone. Its fleet of communications and meteorological spacecraft is also growing.
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