A Pentagon report on China’s military power says Beijing is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal.
China may be pursuing a new intercontinental missile system using conventional arms.
Last year’s report warned that Beijing was rapidly modernizing its nuclear force and was on track to nearly quadruple the number of warheads it has to 1,500 by 2035.
The 2023 report finds that Beijing is on pace to field more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030.
The United States has 3,750 active nuclear warheads.
China’s military spending for 2023 rose 7.2% to 1.58 trillion yuan, or $216 billion in U.S. dollars.