Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what equipment produced in China his Department has bought at what cost to the public purse in each of the last five years.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) welcomes foreign trade where it allows us to provide our Armed Forces with the equipment they require, meets our stringent legal and regulatory requirements and does not compromise our national security. Defence utilises Chinese manufactured goods throughout its supply chain, however the Department’s direct spend for goods manufactured in China for the last five years is as follows:

We are unable to provide details of the specific items purchased as this spend data is captured by the MOD to monitor contractual spend. Statistical analysis and reporting is a secondary function.

Transactions continue to be monitored where there are potential national security concerns from any country, and the Department will investigate and apply appropriate mitigations where required.