Visitors admire vast array of sophisticated military equipment at Zhuhai Airshow

The 15th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition, which was held in Zhuhai City of south China's Guangdong Province from Nov 12 to 17, has attracted global attention and massive visitors with its comprehensive display of latest military equipment and outstanding air demonstrations.

As China's largest arms show and one of the world's most important defense exhibitions, the biennial event, also known as Airshow China, has drawn 1,022 companies from 47 countries and regions, including Russia, France, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Italy this year.

The number of participating companies increased by more than 38 percent compared with the previous air show, among which the number of overseas exhibitors increased by 104 percent compared with the previous air show.

At the exhibition area of Guangdong military industry group, various classic and new missile weapon systems were staged, such as the multi-purpose supersonic cruise missile HD-1.

"This missile is the largest supersonic cruise missile in our exhibition area this time. Our missile is not only the largest, but also the most powerful missile in terms of comprehensive performance. As for its strength, the first is the solid ramjet engine we use. The solid ramjet engine is light in weight and small in size. The second is that our flight speed is also very fast, so this missile is both light and has strong penetration capability," said exhibitor Zhang Gengcheng.

In addition to long-range, ultra-speed missiles, an exquisite but powerful missile system, named JK-1, which has a caliber of only 40mm and a length of about 50cm, also attracted many visitors.

"This missile has two application modes. One is what we call the individual-soldier type. The range of our individual-soldier type is about two to three kilometers. We also have an attack type, which is hung on the launch slot and can hit about seven kilometers. The warhead of our missile is 290 grams, which is seven to eight times that of a grenade. A grenade weighs 40 to 50 grams, so the warhead uses 290 grams of explosives, which means its destructive capability is particularly strong, so we are call it 'small cannon'," said Zhang.

It rained all day on the last day of the airshow, however, it did not dampen the enthusiasm of visitors, especially among young military fans.

A child visitor, who was specifically brought to the exhibition by his parent to feel the might of the motherland and the advanced weapons, said that he mostly expects to see the aerial stunts by Russian Su-57 fighter jet, Russia's Warrior aerobatic team, and China's Bayi Aerobatic Team.

"I like new aircraft, and I would like to look for the J-35A fighter jet here," said another child visitor.

Visitors admire vast array of sophisticated military equipment at Zhuhai Airshow

Visitors admire vast array of sophisticated military equipment at Zhuhai Airshow

Flowers with novel appearances drew strong interest from visitors at this year's Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing, which ran from April 10 to 12.

With more Chinese consumers seeking products that offer emotional value, expo visitors were noticing not only traditional, beautiful flowers, but also those newer, more distinctive varieties.

Among the many blooms on display, those featuring widely recognized icons stood out as especially eye catching.

"This is the Psychopsis papilio, also known as 'Monkey King'. You can see that its flower has three tendrils, which vividly resembles the pheasant feathers worn by Monkey King," said Zha Niyi, an exhibitor, introducing the flower commonly known as the butterfly orchid.

Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, is from a classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Monkey King has stood as one of the most iconic symbols of Chinese culture, embodying generations of Chinese people's imagination of a hero.

This growing consumer interest is also evident in the flowers' sales volumes. In 2025, China’s fresh-cut flower exports surged by over 40 percent, surpassing 200 million U.S. dollars for the first time. Over the past five years, the country's total flower exports have exceeded two billion U.S. dollars.

"This demonstrates that China's flower industry has a solid export base and strong production capacity with the approach of high-quality development," said Zhang Li, deputy director of the Market Circulation Branch of the China Flower Association.

As Chinese consumers become more willing to pay for experiences that generate positive emotions, visitors at the exhibition were increasingly drawn to flowers with cute names and auspicious meanings.

Consumers' growing desire for emotional fulfillment is also driving the wider development in the flower-consumption market. "A single flower can give rise to an entire industry and a whole sector," said Wang Caiyun, president of the Osmanthus Branch of the China Flower Association.

China has grown into the world's largest flower producer, a major consumer, and a leading trading country. Its flower economy now delivers annual output worth more than 520 billion yuan (about 76.16 billion U.S. dollars), driving employment and income growth for more than 220,000 business entities.

Novel flowers catch eyes at Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing