I don’t think the JF-17 has enough power to function as EW.
Perhaps not to the level of the EA-18G Growler put more akin to what the Gripen is doing and hopefully to the level of the Rafale, at least in some aspects.
Next generation pods can have their own onboard power generation capability, as on the US’ NGJ. Secondly the JF-17’s own AESA radar can function as a Jammer. Not to mention the possibility of building a variant with multiple bands of radar in the wings, along the leading edge, or on the tail (especially in the location of the Parachute).
The JF-17 could also feature ESM pods on the wings and small maneuverable laser or IR guided active decoys (hard kill) as well as laser dazzlers (soft kill) around the body to counter BVR and WVR missiles. Something akin to the Gripen evolution model, which would also include separating the flight critical software from the rest of the avionics (mission critical software), to be able to do quick upgrades.
Hopefully down the line the WS-13E/WS-19 engine will be fitted to the JF-17, which benefiting from the J-35 program’s need for the best medium thrust engines China can produce, will offer the most thrust we can expect on the JF-17; approx. 120 kn.
Looking at the Eurofighter’s EW roadmap, the JF-17 could also implement similar upgrades, once the AESA radar is in place.
A lot of EW will be software based, so apart from pods, long range Anti-Radation missile (like the AARGM-ER), and loitering munitions(like spear-ew or SAAB’s LARM), we may not see many external changes. As they always say, “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”