China’s military nuclear orders rise fourfold in push to catch up with US
- Main contractor for China’s nuclear projects given almost US$2.65 billion in new military contracts in first seven months of the year
- Increasing nuclear capability is a natural course of action in the face of challenge posed by the US and its strategy of suppression, military analyst says
The main contractor for China’s nuclear projects has seen a massive increase in orders from the military compared with a year ago, signalling Beijing’s intensified push to boost its military nuclear capacities.
China Nuclear Engineering and Construction Group Corporation Limited reported that the value of its military contracts in the first seven months had surged nearly fourfold year-on-year.
01:55
China and Russia begin joint military drills in Ningxia Hui autonomous region
A statement on Wednesday said the company had received about 17.2 billion yuan (US$2.65 billion) in new military contracts up to July, an increase of 391 per cent over the same period last year.
As a state-owned listed company, China Nuclear Engineering and Construction is a contractor for national defence industry projects. It is mainly engaged in the military, nuclear power, and industrial and civil engineering projects, and has developed hi-tech projects in the nuclear, aerospace, aviation, shipping and weapons sectors, according to the company website.
Its military engineering arm in particular saw a sharp increase in new contracts, going up by 302.2 per cent year on year in June and 332.4 per cent in May.