At LIMA 2025 in china , malaysian Higher authority shows special interest in chinese J-10C export version

Sakshi tiwari 

Sources chinese state media 

The eurasian times.

Banking on unconfirmed reports of the Chinese fighter jet J-10C’s combat success in the recent India-Pakistan war, China is trying to attract buyers for the export variant of the aircraft at the LIMA 2025 defense exhibition that kicked off on May 20 in Langkawi, Malaysia.

China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC) is displaying its top aviation products, including the J-10CE and FC-31 fighter jets, at LIMA 2025.

According to the report, the CATIC booth witnessed a significant footfall of visitors who were keen on examining these fighter jets.

Some popular Chinese accounts on the social media site X published photos of Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, visiting the Chinese booth.

A popular Chinese journalist commented on X: All of a sudden, Chinese fighter jet J-10CE, the export version of J-10 got much attention at the 2025 Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) in Malaysia. The #J10CE jet also got the attention from Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Zahid.

However, these speculations could be a stretch given that it is not unusual for the host country’s leadership to visit the booths of participating countries.

While Malaysia has been cozying up with China in recent times despite the persisting territorial conflict between the two countries, it has officially communicated any interest in the Chinese J-10C fighter so far.

The Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) currently operates the Su-30MKM, a tailored variant of the Russian Su-30, and the American F/A-18 Hornets. It has also recently acquired the South Korean FA-50 Light Attack Aircraft.

China has been aggressively promoting the J-10C in the export market. Though the J-10C has essentially become the poster child of China’s indigenous combat aviation, alongside the J-20 stealth aircraft, it has been unable to stimulate buyer interest. So far, Pakistan is the only buyer of this 4.5th-generation aircraft.

Defence affairs.