Country Profile: China (Observer)

BASIC FACTS

China is an observer country to the NAM

China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the world's second-most populous country after India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land.With an area of nearly 9.6 million square kilometers (3,700,000 sq mi), it is the third-largest country by total land area. In 1964 China became the world’s fifth nuclear-weapon state, formally recognized under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). China has recently increased its warhead count while modernizing its strategic missile forces and nuclear submarine fleet, making its stockpile the world’s third largest (though much smaller than that of the U.S. or Russia).

Capital: Beijing

Since 2014, more than 34 gigawatts (GW) of nuclear power capacity were added in China, bringing the country’s number of operating nuclear reactors to 55 with a total net capacity of 53.2 GW as of April 2024. An additional 23 reactors are under construction in China. Despite rapid capacity growth, nuclear power made up only about 5% of China’s cumulative power generation in 2022. The reactor unit designs are mostly PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor). China is also building a Linglong-1 ACP100 reactor, a domestically designed small modular reactor based on AP1000 technology. China also exported another domestically designed reactor, Hualong One, to Pakistan in 2015. The reactor came into operation in 2021.

TREATIES AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

- Signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1992

- Member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 1984

- Signed Geneva Protocol in 1949

- Signed Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996

- Signed Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1993

- Acceded to Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in 1984

- A member of the Zangger Committee since 1997

- Signed the Protocol Additional to the Agreement Between China and IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in 1998, and in early 2002 formally completed the domestic legal procedures necessary for the entry into force of the Additional Protocol

- Signed International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism (ICSANT) in 2005

- Acceded to the Outer Space Treaty in 1983

- Ratified the Convention on Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials (CPPNM) and its 2005 Amendment in 2009

AGREEMENTS (In Force):

- Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the International Atomic Energy Agency
- Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
- Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material
- Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident
- Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency
- Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management
- Revised Supplementary Agreements Concerning the Provision of Technical Assistance by the IAEA (RSA)
- Regional Co-operative Agreement for Research, Development and Training Related to Nuclear Science and Technology, 2017
- Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the IAEA for the Application of Safeguards in China.
- Protocol Additional to the Agreement between the People's Republic of China and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in China

REGIONAL GROUPS

- Member of the Asia-Pacific Group
- Member of the G-77
- Member of the 1540 Committee
- Member of the East Asia Summit (EAS)
- Observer of the Organization of American States (OAS)

RECENT REPRESENTATION IN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

- Permanent member of the UN Security Council, UNSC President in March 2020
- IAEA Board Member for 2019-2020
- Permanent member of the 1540 Committee

LINKS

Permanent Mission of the People’ Republic of China to the UN

China Atomic Energy Authority

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China

UN State Summary

Ratification of Treaties & Memberships in International Organizations Related to Disarmament

U.S. Energy Information Administration, China continues rapid growth of nuclear power capacity