There have been other indications that the J-10 was intended to have an air-to-ground emphasis. This corroborates a similar statement that I remember reading from Jane's All the World's Aircraft:
"It has also been noted that in 2002 the China People's Daily referred to the J-10 as Qiang Shi (Attack 10), rather than the Jian (Fighter) title that might have been expected."
I would tend to think of the relationship between the J-10 and J-11 as likely being modeled after that of the American F-16C and F-15C. As demonstrated over Iraq in the 1991 Gulf War, the dedicated air-to-air missions were reserved for the F-15C, with its longer range radar and sophisticated IFF systems (including hostile IFF interrogation, which the F-16C, F-14, and F/A-18 all lacked). The F-16C's were assigned primarily to air-to-ground missions. This did not mean that the F-16 was not expected to take on an air-to-air role as circumstances warranted, merely that this was not its first duty call of the day.
The difference here is that the F-16A was originally developed as an air-to-air weapon, that later had to grow into the F-16C to fulfill the demands of an air-to-ground role. The result was an airplane with much higher weight and poorer wing loading, that lost much of the agility of the original F-16A. If this article is correct, then China started by designing the J-10 to fulfill the role of the F-16C Block 50+, rather than growing it into that role after the fact.
I'd call that smart (and realistic) planning.
