Earlier on Tuesday, China said it would continue to improve its nuclear arsenal and urged both the United States and Russia to reduce their stockpiles after global powers vowed to prevent such weapons spreading.
In a joint statement the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France reaffirmed their goal of creating a world free of atomic weapons and avoiding a nuclear conflict.
The modernisation of the Chinese military remains a cause for concern, especially after the armed forces claimed last year that they had developed a hypersonic missile that could fly at five times the speed of sound.
On Tuesday, China defended its nuclear weapons policy and said Russia and the US by far the world’s largest nuclear powers should make the first move on disarmament.
“The US and Russia still possess 90 percent of the nuclear war heads on Earth,” Fu Cong, director general of the department of arms control at the Chinese foreign ministry, told reporters.
“China will continue to modernise its nuclear arsenal for reliability and safety issues,” he added.
