China’s development of a fifth generation fighter (J-20) was deemed inevitable over a decade ago, materializing a qualitative research and development leap forward in its military aviation industry. This and other technological leaps were much more pronounced in the last decade and were a result of national support programmes to education, research and technology, of indirect technology transfer processes from the European Union, the United States of America, Ukraine, Israel, Brazil, and Russia and, not least important, of reform and reconversion policies of the defence industry, which started in the early nineties and continued in the first decade of the 21st century. The present article analyzes and expresses some considerations and implications over the research, development and production process of the J-20 fighter. This article does not represent the opinion of the National Defence Institute on the topic, and is the sole responsibility of the author.