While the world grapples with climate change and the global recession, China is quietly strengthening its nuclear warheads. According to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), China’s nuclear stockpile is rapidly growing.
While China had 410 nuclear warheads in 2023, the number increased to 500 in 2024. Most shockingly, in just one year, China added nearly 100 new nuclear warheads, and this pace is continuing. Preliminary data for 2025 suggests that this figure could rise even higher.
India will have to formulate a strategy.
This could impact not only Asia but the strategic balance of the entire world. The United States, Russia, India, and other nuclear-armed countries are now even more vigilant about China’s activities. This serves as a warning to India that it may need to reconsider its security and nuclear policies. Although China has publicly reiterated its policy of “no first use,” its rapidly growing nuclear power is making this policy questionable.
China conducted its first nuclear test in 1964
China officially launched its nuclear weapons program in 1955, dubbed “Project 596.” It received initial technical assistance from the Soviet Union. Subsequently, in 1964, China successfully conducted its first nuclear test. This test was conducted at Lop Nur and was a fission-based atomic bomb.
With this successful test, China became the world’s fifth nuclear-armed country, following the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain, and France. Subsequently, China conducted 45 nuclear tests at Lop Nur over three decades, from 1964 to 1996.
China is building 350 new missile silos.
China has accelerated the development and testing of missile-based nuclear weapons. During this period, intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) were developed. Although it has signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), it has not yet ratified it.
Since 2020, China has begun rapidly increasing its nuclear weapons stockpile. According to SIPRI and the US Department of Defence, if this pace of growth continues, China’s warhead count could exceed 1,500 by 2035. The SIPRI report states that China is constructing approximately 350 new missile silos, which are either already complete or under construction.
