China, other states, fortify nuclear weapons arsenals: Report

China's DF-41 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles on display to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China [File: Greg Baker/AFP]

The world’s nine nuclear-armed states are continuing to modernise their nuclear arsenals, with China’s stockpile of nuclear warheads rising by 17 percent in 2022, according to the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

In the SIPRI Yearbook 2023 released on Monday, the think tank said it estimated China’s nuclear arsenal had increased from 350 warheads in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023, and that it was “expected to keep growing”.