China's Nuclear Arsenal Will Double By 2030

The United States is pushing China to break a longstanding resistance to nuclear arms talks, seeing a "limited opportunity" for early two-way conversations on the superpowers' approach to the issue, a senior Biden administration official said.

The U.S. defence department estimated last year that Beijing has 500 operational nuclear warheads and will probably field more than 1,000 by 2030.

That compares to 1,770 and 1,710 operational warheads deployed by the United States and Russia, respectively. The Pentagon said that by 2030, much of Beijing's weapons would probably be held at higher levels of readiness.

The two countries briefly resumed official-level talks over nuclear arms in November but those negotiations have since stalled, with a top U.S. official publicly expressing frustration regarding China's responsiveness.

Formal nuclear arms control negotiations had not been expected any time soon, despite U.S. concerns about China's rapid nuclear weapons build-up, even though semi-official exchanges have resumed.