Initially, Russia agreed to allow China to produce Su-27 fighters under license on the condition that the country had to order a large number of Su-27. Specifically, China initially signed the first contract to buy 26 Su-27SK aircraft in 1991, and became the first foreign customer of this fighter. The second batch, consisting of 22 Su-27 aircraft, was signed in 1993, the third batch consisting of 28 aircraft was signed in 1996. In total, China had 76 Su-27SK aircraft imported directly from Russia. After that, the factory was built in China to produce about 300 Su-27SK with the designation J-11.