Nuclear stockpile remains at minimum level required: China

China has asserted that its rapidly expanding nuclear arsenal — generating over 100 warheads annually and now totaling around 600 — remains at the minimum level required, downplaying concerns that it is engaged in a nuclear arms race with the US and Russia to match their stockpiles by the end of the decade.

Beijing has added 100 more warheads to its nuclear stockpile each year since 2023. It currently holds at least 600 warheads, and that number is expected to “keep growing over the coming decade”, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Yearbook 2025, released by the Swedish think tank on Monday.

“China … has the fastest growing nuclear arsenal in the world,” the report said. While most of these warheads are thought to be stored separately from their launchers, China could be deploying a small number of missiles, as is done on a much larger scale by the US. According to SIPRI’s estimate, 132 of the warheads have been assigned to launchers that are still being loaded.

According to observers, China’s growing stockpile has implications for India as Beijing’s close ally, Pakistan, too, is accelerating its nuclear weapons programme.