We need to work with China, pick a western example that works for us and reverse engineer it, no need to spend millions in licensing and TOT. Guarantee an initial purchase of a quantity that covers the investment and Let the private sector play its role.
Weapon replication itself does not involve any patent licensing or authorization processes. As long as you can independently replicate the weapon, you don't need to pay any fees to any country. This is international practice.
Only when you lack certain special technologies and materials and require technical support from the original design and manufacturing countries will these fees become relevant.
If Pakistan wants to replicate Chinese-designed light weapons, as long as Pakistan can independently complete the replication work, it does not need to pay any patent fees to China.
Myanmar and Sudan are both replicating the Chinese QBZ-97 assault rifle (the export version of the QBZ-95 assault rifle). They did not obtain authorization from China, nor did they pay any patent fees. China has not raised any objections regarding this.
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The largest and most important small arms manufacturer in China is the Jianshe Industrial Group. Approximately 40% of their production capacity is dedicated to producing all of China's domestically used small arms, while the remaining 60% is used for export weapons production.
Their export weapons production is divided into three categories:
1. Export versions of Chinese domestically used small arms;
2. Replicas of standard small arms from other countries;
3. Manufacturing of components for other countries' military factories.