The recent mutiny by Russia’s Wagner Group and potential changes to the mercenary group’s operations in Africa could make room for China to expand its own private security footprint on the continent, according to experts.

Since 2010, China has deployed a small but growing number of private security companies (PSCs) across Africa, primarily to protect projects built under its Belt and Road Initiative. While exact numbers are hard to come by, experts estimate that 20 to 40 Chinese PSCs operate outside of China. They have been documented in 14 African countries, most of them in East Africa or Southern Africa.

Despite the word “private” in their names, Chinese PSCs are state-owned enterprises and operate under strict rules, including a ban on carrying weapons. Chinese PSCs don’t engage directly in combat and instead hire armed locals for that purpose while training police and other security personnel behind the scenes.

Observers say those rules could change.

“Although the growth of Chinese PSCs is still limited by the restrictions that prohibit the possession of lethal weapons, given their nature as state-owned enterprises (SOEs) — and the possibility that continued increases in their size and operations will eventually lead to more combative interventions in the near future — such restrictions may be altered over time,” researchers Jong Min Lee and Samuel Wittman wrote recently for The Diplomat.

Russian leaders have said Wagner will remain in Africa. However, recent video from Bangui, Central African Republic (CAR), from early July shows hundreds — some reports say up to 600 — Wagner Group mercenaries boarding planes to leave the country.

The Wagner Group has become a dominant force in the CAR, serving as advisors and bodyguards to the nation’s president and, through affiliates, operating diamond and gold mines, promoting its own brands of beer and vodka, and driving support for Russia through a variety of propaganda methods.