China and Russia recently entered into a major multi-billion dollar arms deal with Beijing signing a contract to buy 24 Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets from Moscow at $2 billion.

With the deal, China became the first foreign buyer of the advanced warplane, according to Rostec, the plane's manufacturer.

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Reports said the sale was a significant boost to Russia's arms exports and  having China for a client helped tremendously in realizing that goal.

"The long negotiation on the Su-35 sale to China has been completed. We have signed a contract," Sergey Chemezov, the head of the Russian state-owned high-tech giant Rostec, told reporters in a press briefing.

Chemezov refused to give further details on the deal, but business daily newspaper Kommersant, citing sources in the Russian arms industry, disclosed that China paid $83 million for each of the 24 fighter jets

The Su-35, according to Rostec,  is a long-range "4++ generation" fighter jet armed with an internal 30mm cannon and has 12 hardpoints with a combined capacity of 8,000 kg, compatible with a wide range of unguided and guided missiles and bombs."

The Russian military is said to be the primary operator of the jets, with 36 Su-35s in their possession. Russia expects to produce many more Su-35s in the future.

China first showed interest in buying the fighter jets in 2008 upon seeing them at the Airshow China international expo.Three years later, formal negotiations for the sale started between the two countries was initiated.

Kommersant, citing sources, said the deal does not give China permission to locally produce the aircraft.

China's production capability for advanced military planes is not yet sufficient to satisfy local demand, the sources said.

Military analysts said the jet fighters will definitely give the Chinese Air Force a military edge in the region in the face of conflicts with China's neighboring countries such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Japan, Taiwan, and Brunei over the South China Sea.

China is one of the world's top five buyers of Russian arms and military equipment. Beijing buys a variety of military items from Russia which include advanced  jet engines, surface-to-air missiles, submarines among other  military items.

TagsSu-35 fighter jets, Russia, Rostec, $2 billion, advanced warplane, arms exports, Kommersant, $83 million, surface-to-air missiles, submarines, military items, Chinese air force