China’s new stealth fighter roared out of the smog hanging over the country’s premier air show yesterday, as its makers sought to impress a gallery of overseas military officers whom Chinese defence contractors hope will one day buy the aircraft.

Pictures of the J-31, which is still under development, have been posted on various Chinese websites and blogs by amateur enthusiasts in recent years but yesterday’s performance at the biennial Zhuhai display marked its official coming-out party.

“It is our dream to break the monopoly that foreign countries have on new-generation jet fighters,” Li Yuhai, deputy general manager at Aviation Industry Corporation of China, told reporters at the show. “The J-31 will also be a flagship product for us in the international arms market.”