looking over the Entire line of known Fighters produced by the PLAAF, None of them Feature gun pods. Every fighter interceptor features a internal cannon Normally 23mm. Chuck even there next latest fighters the J10 and J11 and J15 all carry internal cannons 23mm for J10 30mm For J11 and J15.
J10, j11 and j15 are all of the 1970 generation of fighters that owes their guiding light to now almost 50 year old experiences of Vietnamese and 1967 war. Even if j10 is chronologically later it was still designed to catch up to that generation.
Even the f-22 was designed in the late 1980s when the US was seriously behind the state of the art in short range AAM, didn't know it was behind, and didn't know how good latest soviet short range AAMs have gotten.
I think military services are particularly vulnerable to having a wrenching experience from the past disproportionally effect it's view of the future. The lack of a gun in Vietnam had been a gulling experience for the US, as a result it has become religious dogma that gun is vital for all time. But I think that is not so, especially when when takes into consideration the weight and design penalties of incorporating the gun.
BTW, the laser countermeasures now bing developed to counter short range IR missiles would work just as effectively against a pilot trying to point a gun. Furthermore, while the pilot firing the defeated IR missile has the options to fire another, the pilot who tried to draw a bead on the target would be blinded and effectively killed for his troubles.
