An aircraft that is reported to be the Chinese stealth fighter, in Chengdu, Sichuan province. Photograph: Kyodo/Reuters
Hu Jintao confirmed today that China had carried out its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet, the US defence secretary said.
Robert Gates, who is in Beijing for talks to improve military ties, said the Chinese president had told him the jet's trial was not arranged to coincide with his visit.
"I asked President Hu about it directly, and he said that the test had absolutely nothing to do with my visit and had been a pre-planned test," Gates told reporters.
Asked whether he believed that, Gates said: "I take President Hu at his word that the test had nothing to do with my visit."
A Pentagon official told Reuters that Hu and other civilian leaders at the meeting with Gates did not appear to be aware the J-20 flight had happened before the US pressed them about it.
"When Secretary Gates raised the question of the J-20 test in the meeting with President Hu, it was clear that none of the civilians in the room had been informed," the official said.
Hu's confirmation came after accounts and pictures of the J-20 prototype's short flight appeared on Chinese websites. The fighter is believed to have flown for about 15 minutes over an airfield in the south-western city of Chengdu.
There had previously been photographs said to show the aeroplane going through runway tests. Hu's comments were the first official acknowledgement of the project.
Some interpreted the timing as a sign that Beijing had heeded calls for greater transparency about its military programme, while others thought it more likely to be a show of strength.
Reports suggest that China's progress in developing a rival to the US stealth fighter, the F-22, has been faster than expected – although it is thought it will take years before the plane is in service.
The F-22 is the only operational stealth fighter, although the US is developing the F-35 joint strike fighter, and Russia's Sukhoi T-50 is expected to enter service in about 2015.
The Associated Press reported that people who answered phones at government and Communist party offices in Chengdu and at the J-20's developer, the Chengdu Aircraft Industrial Group, refused to comment.
China's military modernisation programme and heavy investment in new technology – such as the Dongfeng anti-ship missile – is reducing the military gap with the US and tilting the power balance in the region.
Gates acknowledged on Sunday that China's development of military equipment had outpaced US intelligence estimates and said it "clearly [has] potential to put some of our capabilities at risk".
He is meeting civilian leaders, having agreed minor improvements in military-to-military links during meetings yesterday with the Chinese defence minister, General Liang Guanglie.
Both sides said stronger ties were needed, and Liang made a point of warning the US against selling further arms to Taiwan. Beijing suspended military exchanges last year in protest at such a deal.
The Chinese military's budget has soared to 532bn yuan (£52bn) – although last year's increase of 7.5% was the smallest for more than two decades. Outside experts believe the real level of funding is far higher, although it is still thought to lag well behind that of the US.
"Some countries which have a far better international security situation than China have world-leading levels of military research," the army's official newspaper, the Liberation Army Daily, wrote in an article on Gates's visit today. "In such circumstances, China should not be unjustly excoriated for developing a few modern weapons."
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