China raised the prospect of reciprocal visits to nuclear sites in meetings with US officials this year, according to CNN reporting on October 6, 2026. The discussions included visits to US Department of Energy national laboratories and equivalent Chinese facilities.
US and Chinese officials have held most of the discussions on the margins of gatherings involving the UN Security Council’s five veto-wielding permanent members.
Donald Trump, the US president, called for trilateral arms control negotiations among the US, China and Russia when he met Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, last month. The two leaders did not discuss possible nuclear site visits during those talks, according to a US official cited by CNN.
Washington plans to keep pressing the proposal in meetings in the coming months. Further lower-level talks on possible visits are expected before Trump and Xi meet again.
Another Trump-Xi meeting is widely considered likely this year, potentially at November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in China or during Group of 20 meetings in the US in December.
Beijing says its nuclear arsenal is far smaller than those of Russia and the US. It argues that the disparity means China does not need to take part in the proposed arms control talks.
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