Published on : 16/10/2024
On October 16, 1964, China's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated.
At the beginning of 1955, the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) held an enlarged meeting and put forward the strategic decision to establish and develop the atomic energy industry in China.
Mao Zedong (毛澤東) said, "We not only want more airplanes and cannons, but also atomic bombs. In today's world, we cannot be free from being bullied if we do not have this." Chen Yun (陳雲), Nie Rongzhen (聶榮臻), Bo Yibo (薄一波) and others were assigned to organise the nuclear industry.
China initially developed the atomic bomb with the assistance of the Soviet Union, but when the Soviet Union withdrew all of its experts after the China-Soviet split, China was determined to complete the task entirely on its own.
In November 1962, the Central Committee of CPC set up a special leading organisation headed by Zhou Enlai (周恩來), then Premier of the State Council.
On October 16, 1964, at 3:00 p.m., China's first atomic bomb, No. 596, was detonated at Lop Nur (羅布泊) in the western region of Xinjiang.
The bomb was detonated on a tower, which means the bomb was first assembled on the ground without detonators, and then hoisted to the top of the tower to fix, check and test. After the completion of various tasks, the detonators were inserted.
Immediately after the successful explosion, the Chinese government issued a statement on the same night that "China will not be the first to use nuclear weapons at any time or under any circumstances."
