Since its founding in 2016, Aero Engine Corp. of China (AECC) has quickly advanced the nation’s ability to produce indigenous military aircraft engines, a capability it had long struggled to achieve. This progress has enabled China to equip its latest stealth fighters, such as the J-35, with homegrown engines, reducing its dependence on Russian or other foreign components. Alongside growing arms exports, hypersonic missile development, and accelerated naval shipbuilding, China is closing key technological gaps and boosting defense self-sufficiency, according to a Wall Street Journal article titled “How China Built an Arms Industry to Rival the West.” While some Western analysts note that US engines remain more reliable, China’s combination of research, industrial reform, and strategic intelligence marks a significant step toward Xi Jinping’s ambition of challenging the US in global military power.