China is rapidly expanding its capacity to manufacture nuclear warheads, upgrading secretive weapons facilities as it builds its nuclear arsenal faster than any other nation, The Washington Post reported Sunday, citing satellite imagery and expert analysis.
Beijing is no longer focused solely on maintaining a minimum deterrent but is instead preparing for a faster, more aggressive nuclear response — a shift that could raise the stakes in any future confrontation with the United States and its allies, the Post reported.
Independent analysts who reviewed satellite images told the Post that China has carried out sweeping upgrades since about 2019 at multiple facilities tied to nuclear warhead production.
These include sites believed to manufacture plutonium "pits" — the core component of nuclear warheads — as well as plants that produce the high explosives used to trigger nuclear detonations.
"The scale of change we’re seeing is unlike anything before," analyst Renny Babiarz told the Post.
China has accelerated its nuclear modernization, even though recent Pentagon assessments estimate its current warhead stockpile remains in the low 600s.
Defense officials say Beijing is on pace to exceed 1,000 warheads by the end of the decade.
President Donald Trump recently warned that China could approach U.S. nuclear capabilities within five years, underscoring growing concern in Washington about Beijing’s strategic ambitions.
While analysts say China is unlikely to match the roughly 3,700 warheads in the U.S. arsenal anytime soon, they stress that the pace and breadth of China’s buildup signal preparation for a prolonged arms competition.
Satellite imagery reviewed by experts shows construction and security upgrades at nearly every stage of China’s nuclear weapons supply chain.
Facilities tied to plutonium pit production have expanded significantly, with new buildings, doubled security perimeters, and extensive new infrastructure, the report said.
One site near Pingtong in China’s Sichuan province — the only publicly identified facility linked to plutonium pit production — has undergone especially dramatic changes during the past five years.
Analysts say the plant now resembles, and in some respects exceeds, the capabilities of the U.S. Pantex facility in Texas, which assembles and maintains American nuclear warheads.
Another facility in Zitong County, also in Sichuan, believed to produce high-explosive components, has expanded rapidly since 2019.
Satellite images show new security walls, storage areas, testing chambers, and a massive 430,000-square-foot building completed last year that could be used to assemble and transport warhead components.
China has also expanded activity at its Lop Nur nuclear test site in Xinjiang, adding new underground tunnels and shafts that analysts say may indicate preparations for renewed nuclear testing — despite Beijing signing, but never ratifying, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Beyond production, analysts say Beijing may be moving toward a "launch-on-warning" strategy, meaning it could respond immediately upon detecting an incoming attack rather than waiting to absorb a strike first.
"Rapid-response nuclear postures raise the danger of misunderstanding and overreaction," said Tong Zhao of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
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