China sold weapons to both sides during the Iran-Iraq war, but then the U.S. and its allies helped both sides too and the U.S. covertly sold arms to Iran. During the 1990s, the low quality of Chinese weapons and end of the Iran-Iraq war led to a precipitous drop in Chinese arms sales. While the U.S. has its increased its market share of global weapons sales, China's sales and market share have decreased. Although the MTCR was negotiated without Chinese input, China was asked to adhere to it and agreed to do so in 1992. The powerful Chinese military-industrial companies resent these restrictions because the MTCR limits the possibility of selling one of the few weapons that China can make that is in demand abroad.
China regards U.S. arms control efforts as being one-sided.
The U.S. makes demands on China, but does not offer reciprocal concessions, such as limiting arms sales to Taiwan.