Nuke strategy's aim to protect national security, China says

Beijing - China on Tuesday reiterated that its nuclear weapons strategy was only intended to safeguard national security and vowed to maintain its current nuclear arsenal at the lowest possible level.

"China exercises extreme restraint over developing nuclear weapons and we will continue to maintain our nuclear power at the lowest level, only for national security needs," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu told reporters.

"We are willing to make joint efforts with relevant countries towards nuclear disarmament and a nuclear-weapons-free world," Jiang added.