Amid suspense over Pakistan’s purported deal for buying 40 J-35A, China’s second fifth-generation stealth aircraft, the country’s President Asif Ali Zardari visited the advanced aircraft complex of the fighter jet’s manufacturer, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), in Chengdu.
The visit by Zardari on September 14 marks the first time that the secret military complex of China’s largest state-owned aerospace major has been opened to a foreign head of state, fueling speculation that the J-35 deal might still be alive, notwithstanding the denial by Pakistan’s defense minister in July this year.
The AVIC is China’s flagship aerospace and defense conglomerate engaged in the design and production of a wide range of military and civilian aircraft, including fighter jets such as the J-10C, JF-17, the fifth-generation stealth aircraft J-20, the J-35, and a host of trainers, transporters, and helicopters.
The rare visit to the AVIC complex in Chengdu, the first by any foreign head of state, also underlines the close military relationship between the two countries.
China remains Pakistan’s largest military supplier, accounting for as much as 81 percent of Islamabad’s military weapons imports during the period 2020 to 2024, according to a global arms transfer database compiled by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
In that period, Pakistan’s arms imports from China included advanced fighter jets, missiles, radar, and air defense systems.
At the same time, Pakistan remains the biggest destination for China’s military weapons, accounting for as much as 63 percent of China’s global arms exports between 2020 and 2024, according to SIPRI.
The Pakistani Air Force (PAF) is known to be operating 36 of the J-10C fighters and 161 JF-17s, jointly developed by the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC) of China and the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex.
Last month, China officially secured the first export deal of the Z-10ME attack helicopter, which will upgrade Pakistan’s aging fleet of mostly US-made aircraft.
President Zardari’s Rare Visit To AVIC
“President Asif Ali Zardari became the first foreign head of state to visit China’s AVIC aircraft complex in Chengdu. He lauded the J-10 and JF-17’s role in strengthening PAF and hailed AVIC as a symbol of China’s tech progress and (Pakistan)-China strategic partnership,” the Pakistan President’s office said on a post on social media site X (formerly Twitter).
During the visit, Zardari met with the AVIC’s engineers and scientists and was briefed on the company’s advanced capabilities.
“President Zardari was briefed on AVIC’s advanced capabilities, including the J-10 fighter jet, the co-production of the JF-17 Thunder with Pakistan, as well as progress in the J-20 stealth 5th-generation fighter aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, fully automated units, and integrated command-and-control systems for modern multi-domain operations,” Zardari’s office said.
President Asif Ali Zardari became the first foreign Head of State to visit China’s AVIC aircraft complex in Chengdu. He lauded the J-10 & JF-17’s role in strengthening PAF and hailed AVIC as a symbol of China’s tech progress & Pak-China strategic partnership. pic.twitter.com/J9moet5v2w
— The President of Pakistan (@PresOfPakistan) September 14, 2025
“He reaffirmed that the two countries would continue to expand collaboration in defense production and aviation, further deepening their all-weather strategic cooperative partnership,” the office added.
Notably, during the four-day war with India in May this year, Pakistan used a host of Chinese weapons, from fighter jets such as J-10C and JF-17, to air-to-air missiles such as PL-15, and air defense systems like HQ-9.
Pakistan claimed that it downed five Indian fighter jets, including Rafales, using the China-supplied jets (J-10 and JF-17) and AAM like PL-15. India acknowledged the loss of a Rafale fighter due to a technical glitch.
On the other side, India claimed that it shot down five Pakistani fighter jets and one other large military aircraft, likely an AEW&C. Pakistan has denied these claims.
“The President noted that the J-10 and JF-17 have greatly strengthened the Pakistan Air Force, a fact clearly demonstrated during May 2025’s Ma’raka-e-Haq and Operation Bunyan-um-Marsoos (against India in May),” the statement added.
The Mystery Over J-35
However, the lengthy statement by the Pakistan President’s office was totally silent on the issue of a potential deal over the J-35A, further deepening the mystery.
Pakistan has sent conflicting signals on the deal, reportedly in the works for close to two years now.
Pakistan’s Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu first mentioned a potential J-35A deal with China in December 2023. He repeated the remarks in January 2024.
Sidhu, the head of Pakistan’s Air Force, said in January 2024 that the “foundation for acquiring the J-31 stealth fighter aircraft has already been laid” and that it would join the PAF’s fleet “in the near future.” The J-35 is a more advanced and “production-ready” iteration of the earlier FC-31 model.
Following the four-day war with India in May, which saw both countries launch missiles at each other, the reports on a potential J-35 deal resurfaced.
In June, Bloomberg reported, quoting Pakistani defense ministry officials, that Pakistan will buy 40 J-35A fighter jets from China, and deliveries will begin as soon as August 2025.
On June 6, the Pakistani government announced in a now-deleted tweet that China offered 40 J-35A fighter jets, KJ-500 AWACS, and HQ-19 air defense systems with deliveries starting as early as August 2025, in a deal valued at around USD 4.6 billion.
Senior Pakistani government officials also told defense outlet Janes that the delivery of the J-35A to Islamabad will take place in “the coming months.”
“Pakistani Air Force pilots are already in China undergoing training to fly and operate the J-35A,” the senior official confirmed to Janes.
This was followed by a tweet by China’s Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) reportedly showing a Pakistani Air Force pilot seated inside the cockpit of the J-35A fifth-generation stealth fighter.
The image, published in June, has further cemented speculation that Pakistan has officially acquired the J-35A stealth fighter.
However, @Rupprecht_A, a Chinese military researcher, suggested that the aircraft shown in the AVIC post was a J-10C and not a J-35A fighter jet.
However, these media reports were denied by Pakistan’s defense minister Khwaja Asif in July.
In an interview with Saudi Arabia-based news outlet Arab News in July, Asif dismissed the claims and said, “I think it’s only in the media, you know… It’s good for Chinese defence sales.”
Indeed, the share of AVIC had jumped as much as 10 percent in June 2025, following reports of Pakistan buying 40 J-35A fighter jets.
However, the statement by Pakistan’s defense minister that the news of Islamabad buying Chinese J-35A fighter jets was only the creation of the media was clearly a misrepresentation, as the story was confirmed by none other than PAF Chief Sidhu.
Furthermore, the Pakistani government has itself posted about the J-35A deal with China in June.
At that time, reports suggested that Pakistan’s precarious economic situation, reputation for delaying payments, and backlash in Chinese social media accounts on reports of Beijing providing Islamabad a 50 percent discount might have scuttled the deal.
Some media reports even suggested that China’s demands for a US-style monitoring system for the J-35s might have led to the deal hitting a roadblock.
According to the reports, China wanted extensive monitoring systems in place for the J-35A to ensure that its stealth technology is not compromised, given the strong defense relationship of Islamabad with the US.
Notably, the US has put in place advanced monitoring systems for its F-16s with the PAF, including regular ground inspection by US personnel, codified in the end-user agreement of the F-16s.
Reportedly, these same end-user agreements ensured that Islamabad was not able to deploy its F-16s against India during the brief war with India in May.
Reportedly, China feared that Pakistan’s historical defense ties with the US could mean the US officials getting covert access to J-35’s sensitive stealth technology, compromising its performance in a potential China-US conflict.
Other reports suggested that the rising warmth in relations between Islamabad and Washington might have irked Beijing.
Regardless, it is clear that the two countries were in serious negotiations for the J-35A deal before the talks hit a roadblock.
Now, Pakistan President’s rare visit to AVIC complex in Chengdu and Zardari’s lavish praise of the aerospace major might have been choreographed to suggest Islamabad’s intention to restart the negotiations for the stalled deal for the J-35A.
- Sumit Ahlawat has over a decade of experience in news media. He has worked with Press Trust of India, Times Now, Zee News, Economic Times, and Microsoft News. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Media and Modern History from the University of Sheffield, UK.
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