China North Industries Corporation
China North Industries Corporation (), doing business as Norinco (North Industries Corporation), is a Chinese state-owned defense corporation that manufactures a diverse range of civil and military products. It is also involved in domestic civil construction and military defense projects. Norinco is one of the world's largest defense contractors. History. Established in 1980 with the approval of the State Council of China, Norinco is an enterprise group engaged in both products and capital operation, integrated with research and development, manufacturing, marketing and services. Norinco mainly deals with defense products, petroleum & mineral resources development, international engineering  contracting, optronic products, civilian explosives and chemical products, sporting arms and equipment, vehicles and logistics operation, etc. Norinco has been ranked among the forefront of China's 500 largest state-owned enterprises in terms of total assets and revenue. In 1993, the import of most Norinco firearms and ammunition into the United States was blocked under new trade rules when China's permanent normal trade relations status was renewed. The prohibition did not apply to sporting shotguns or shotgun ammunition, however. In 1994, U.S. Customs agents conducted a sting operation named Operation Dragon Fire against Atlanta-based importers of Norinco  firearms as well as Poly Technologies. Seven officials were arrested after agreeing to smuggle 2,000 fully automatic Chinese-made variants of AK-47s to undercover agents the officials believed may have been connected to the mafia. At least one official, Hammond Ku, attempted to sell Chinese-produced tanks and rocket launchers to the undercover agents. In August 2003, the Bush Administration imposed sanctions on Norinco for allegedly selling missile-related goods to Iran. These sanctions led to a prohibition on imports into the US of the remaining types of firearms and ammunition not covered by the 1993 ban. In July 2014 , Norinco delivered a shipment to the government of South Sudan of 95,000 assault rifles and 20 million rounds of ammunition, supplying enough bullets to kill every person in South Sudan twice over. In November 2020, Donald Trump issued an executive order prohibiting any American company or individual from owning shares in companies that the United States Department of Defense has listed as having links to the People's Liberation Army, which included Norinco. International customers. Some of Norinco's international customers include Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Canada, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where it negotiated arms-for-minerals deals, as  well as Venezuela. Products. Norinco produces firearms, grenade launchers, light and armored vehicles, tanks, aircraft, UAVs, artillery, fuel air bombs, precision strike systems, missiles, air defence and anti-missile systems, air-launched weapons, amphibious assault weapons and equipment, night vision products, long-range suppression weapon systems, machinery, radars, optoelectronic products, engineering equipment, oil field equipments, chemicals, light industrial products, explosives and blast materials, infantry equipments, high-effect destruction systems, anti-riot equipment, civil and military firearms and ammunition.