"Chinese firms supports production of some of junta’s deadliest weapons, research group finds", Myanmar Now, 17 July 2025

The report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), entitled “Factory of Death”, investigates [...] links between the regime’s munitions factories and businesses in China [...].

Known as DI 21 [...] the factory produces “aerial bombs” used for multiple purposes by the Myanmar military, including air raids. [...].

Between 2015 and 2020, Myanmar’s military used a kind of thermobaric munition [...] in Sagaing Region and Kachin and Chin states on three separate occasions.

SAC-M’s report details how these bombs were either imported directly from China or partially or wholly assembled in the DI 21 factory from imported parts.

[...] bombs are manufactured by a Chinese state-owned arms company known as the China South Industries Group Corporation [...] which first showcased them in 2015 before transferring production to Myanmar for the purpose of supplying the Myanmar air force, according to SAC-M.

Similarities between the bombs produced in the DI 21 factory and other bombs manufactured and marketed in China South corroborate that their design is Chinese origin [...].

[...] findings suggested that the collaboration between the DI and the China South subsidiary Hunan Vanguard “entailed a transfer of technology and associated assistance for DI 21 to set up production of a wide range of aerial bombs.”