China Developing ‘New Generation’ Nuclear Weapons, Conducted Secret Test, US Official Warns

Last Updated:February 22, 2026, 07:12 IST

The overhaul, reportedly including a covert nuclear test in February — is backed by substantial, though undisclosed, financial investment.

US intelligence agencies have concluded that the People’s Republic of China is developing a “new generation" of nuclear weapons, and that it has secretly conducted at least one underground explosive test in recent years as part of the effort, according to multiple reports citing U.S. officials and classified assessments.

U.S. officials told CNN that China’s effort to significantly expand its nuclear arsenal beyond its current 600 operational warheads could signal a major shift in the country’s overall nuclear strategy.

“They have a brand new generation of weapons for which they have no database," one unnamed US source said, according to the outlet.

The overhaul, reportedly including a covert nuclear test in February — is backed by substantial, though undisclosed, financial investment.

The report claimed that the People’s Republic is continuing to develop low-yield, tactical nuclear weapons for the first time — planning to use them in potential scenarios where the US defends Taiwan militarily.

China reportedly carried out an explosive nuclear test in June 2020 at its highly secretive Lop Nur facility in the country’s remote northwest, defying a self-imposed testing moratorium that has been in place since 1996, CNN reported.

New details about the 2020 test have confirmed U.S. suspicions that China is accelerating its nuclear program, Washington officials said. According to Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Yeaw, the explosion registered a magnitude of 2.75 on the Richter scale.

“I’ve looked at additional data since then," Yeah said. “There is very little possibility I would say that it is anything but an explosion, a singular explosion."

A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., told CNN that the U.S. has “distorted and misrepresented China’s nuclear policy."

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