&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "2,000-foot tube, laser tests and more: China builds towns to expand nuclear arsenal, satellite images show")
China has been vastly expanding its nuclear arsenal, adding at least seven nuclear test and construction facilities in recent months. A report by the Daily Telegraph, based on an analysis of satellite imagery, shows that the Chinese countryside has been filled with huge networks of infrastructure and testing sites. President Xi Jinping has often claimed that he is in favour of scaling back on the nukes, but the latest report presents a different picture.
Describing what the satellites captured in China, the report states that an entire town came up around a nuclear facility in one place, complete with apartments, a staff bus depot and playing fields. Another site has a 2,000-foot tube inside which Beijing reportedly tests the effects of an attack on its nuclear weapons.
At a third site, scientists are believed to be studying the effects of a nuclear blast using high-tech lasers. Beijing apparently razed multiple villages and farming communities to make space for these nuclear facilities.
China's official stand on nuclear weapons
Xi Jinping has openly called for nuclear non-proliferation initiatives, but the country still continues to test more nuclear weapons. China is also a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and also has a "no first use" policy. But despite this, its nuclear arsenal has expanded under Xi since he took over in 2012.
China's growing nuclear arsenal
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Under him, China's nuclear arsenal has doubled, and as of January 2025, the country had 620 warheads in its stockpile. Experts estimate that at the current rate, this number will reach 1,500 by 2035, The Telegraph report stated. Several of them are capable of covering extreme distances, with a range of nearly 15,000 kilometres. Meanwhile, the US and Russia still hold the largest stockpiles of nukes, with the former having about 5,300 warheads and Moscow about 5,500 warheads.
China has a diverse stockpile of nukes that can be launched from land, submarines, and aircraft. According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the country spent an estimated $12.4 billion on its nuclear ambitions in 2024.
Xi Jinping in US
Xi Jinping is in the United States for a three-day visit where he will be meeting Donald Trump. The two leaders are expected to broach the topic of nuclear weapons, especially since the American president has also ordered the expansion of the country's arsenal. "Because of other countries’ testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," he wrote on Truth Social last year.
