China on Friday voiced its firm opposition to the latest annual report by the United States on China's military power, urging the US side to view its strategic intention and defense development objectively and reasonably.

The report, which was released by the US Department of Defense on Thursday, said the department estimates that China "possessed more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023" and "will probably have over 1,000 operational nuclear warheads by 2030".

Dismissing the report as "irresponsible", Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said the Pentagon report serves as an excuse for the US to maintain its military hegemony.

"Like similar reports released previously, this report disregards facts, is filled with prejudice and spreads the 'China threat'," she said at a regular news conference in Beijing on Friday.

China stays committed to a self-defensive nuclear strategy, and always keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security, Mao said.

China does not intend to engage in a nuclear arms race with any country, the spokeswoman added.

"China's nuclear policy is one of a kind among all nuclear-armed states, and has been highly stable, consistent and predictable," Mao said.

"Any country, as long as it does not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against China, will not be threatened by China's nuclear weapons."

In contrast, the US, which possesses the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world, follows a first-use nuclear deterrence policy, Mao said.

The US has also been investing a huge amount of money to upgrade its "nuclear triad", advanced the forward deployment of its strategic forces and strengthened extended deterrence for its allies, she said.

"These policies and moves have heightened the risks of nuclear arms races and nuclear conflicts, and will only exacerbate the environment of global strategic security," Mao said.

The spokeswoman called on the US to stop the report's release and take concrete actions to maintain the stability of ties between China and the US, as well as ties between their militaries.

wangqingyun@chinadaily.com.cn