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In 1955, Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party decided to proceed with a nuclear weapons program; it was developed with Soviet assistance until 1960. After its first nuclear test in October 1964, Beijing deployed a modest but potent ballistic missile force, including land- and sea-based intermediate-range and [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]s.  

In 1955, Mao Zedong's Chinese Communist Party decided to proceed with a nuclear weapons program; it was developed with Soviet assistance until 1960. After its first nuclear test in October 1964, Beijing deployed a modest but potent ballistic missile force, including land- and sea-based intermediate-range and [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]s.  

China became a major international arms exporter during the 1980s. Beijing joined the Middle East arms control talks, which began in July 1991 to establish global guidelines for conventional arms transfers, but announced in September 1992 that it would no longer participate because of the U.S. decision to sell F-16A/B aircraft to Taiwan.

The silo construction at Yumen and Hami constitutes the most significant expansion of the Chinese nuclear arsenal ever. China has for decades operated about 20 silos for liquid-fuel DF-5 ICBMs. With 120 silos under construction at Yumen, another 110 silos at Hami, a dozen silos at Jilantai, and possibly more silos being added in existing DF-5 deployment areas, the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) appears to have approximately 250 silos under construction – more than ten times the number of ICBM silos in operation today.

[[File:CCP DF-5B ICBM.jpg|right|350px|thumb|First stage of the DF-58 ground-based [[ICBM]].]]

China was the first state to pledge "no first use" of nuclear weapons. It joined the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 1984 and pledged to abstain from further atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in 1986. China acceded to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1992 and supported its indefinite and unconditional extension in 1995. In 1996, it signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and agreed to seek an international ban on the production of fissile nuclear weapons material. To date, China has not ratified the CTBT.  

In 1996, China committed not to provide assistance to un-safeguarded nuclear facilities. China became a full member of the NPT Exporters (Zangger) Committee, a group that determines items subject to IAEA inspections if exported by NPT signatories. In September 1997, China issued detailed nuclear export control regulations. China began implementing regulations establishing controls over nuclear-related dual-use items in 1998. China also has committed not to engage in new nuclear cooperation with Iran (even under safeguards), and will complete existing cooperation, which is not of [[proliferation]] concern, within a relatively short period. In May 2004, with the support of the United States, China became a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group.  

The number of new Chinese silos under construction exceeds the number of silo-based ICBMs operated by [[Russia]], and constitutes more than half of the size of the entire US ICBM force. The Chinese missile silo program constitutes the most extensive silo construction since the US and Soviet missile silo construction during the Cold War.

Based on significant, tangible progress with China on nuclear nonproliferation, President Clinton in 1998 took steps to bring into force the 1985 U.S.-China Agreement on Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation.

The 250 new silos under construction are in addition to the force of approximately 100 road-mobile ICBM launchers that PLARF deploys at more than a dozen bases. It is unclear how China will operate the new silos, whether it will load all of them with missiles or if a portion will be used as empty decoys. If all the new silos are loaded with single-warhead missiles, then the number of warheads on Chinese ICBMs could potentially increase from about 185 warheads today to as many as 415 warheads. If the new silos are loaded with the new MIRVed DF-41 ICBMs, then Chinese ICBMs could potentially carry more than 875 warheads (assuming 3 warheads per missile) when the Yumen and Hami missile silo fields are completed.

As of mid-2021, the PRC had 145 missile silos under construction capable of housing the DF-41, which can carry multiple warheads and reach targets as far away as 9,300 miles.<ref>https://www.nspirement.com/2021/07/24/chinas-nuclear-capabilities.html</ref>  Discovery of another array of missile silos housing another 120 nuclear-tipped missiles was made public shortly after the first report.<ref>https://fas.org/blogs/security/2021/07/china-is-building-a-second-nuclear-missile-silo-field/</ref>

The silo construction represents a significant increase of the Chinese arsenal, which the Federation of American Scientists as of 2021 estimates includes approximately 350 nuclear warheads. The Pentagon stated in 2020 that China had “an operational nuclear warhead stockpile in low-200s,” and STRATCOM commander Adm. Charles Richard said in early 2021 that “China’s nuclear weapons stockpile is expected to double (if not triple or quadruple) over the next decade.”<ref>https://fas.org/blogs/security/2021/07/china-is-building-a-second-nuclear-missile-silo-field/</ref><ref>https://www.nspirement.com/2021/07/24/chinas-nuclear-capabilities.html</ref>

====Missile technology====

====Missile technology====