A glimpse of future airpower on display at biennial China airshow

The China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai attracts 600,000 visitors and billions in sales.

A squadron of six Chinese Chengdu J-10 jets took off towards an overcast sky in front of thousands of spectators at an airfield in southern China’s coastal city of Zhuhai in mid-November.

Flying low in a close V-shaped formation, the jets circled back and as they approached a cluster of buildings near the spectators, trails of red, blue, yellow and white smoke suddenly poured from each plane, bringing a cheer from onlookers that was almost as loud as the roar from the warplanes’ engines.

Seconds later, the J-10s broke their close formation to show off a series of even more impressive acrobatic manoeuvres.

But the aerial show by the seasoned pilots was far from the only demonstration of prowess at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition, better known as Airshow China or the Zhuhai Airshow, which is held biennially and named after the city in southern China where it is held.

A wide array of new equipment and aircraft available to the Chinese military – known as the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) – was unveiled for the first time at the airshow, held from November 12 to 17. This included an updated version of the Harbin Z-20 helicopter and the long-awaited J-35A stealth fighter while the newest Russian stealth warplane, the Su-57, also took to the skies over Zhuhai in its first appearance outside Russia.