New Chinese ballistic missiles 'built to threaten US', top admiral warns

China has deployed new longer range ballistic missiles on its nuclear submarines, enabling it to strike the US mainland from much nearer its own shores, a top American admiral has confirmed.

New JL-3 missiles, which reportedly have a range of 12,000kms, have been installed in China's six nuclear-powered submarines, news agency Bloomberg reports.

The new missiles raise China's ability to target US territory.

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The previous version, the JL-2, had a range of 7200kms, which meant the submarines carrying them would have to reach waters near Hawaii to threaten the US east coast.

Admiral Sam Paparo, the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, revealed the fielding of the new Chinese ballistic missiles during a conference in Washington DC.

"They were built to threaten the United States," he said.

Paparo refused to say if any of the Chinese submarines had carried out so-called deterrence patrols in the Pacific Ocean off Hawaii.

He was speaking after US President Joe Biden met Chinese leader Xi Jinping for their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in Bali.

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Speaking after the meeting, Biden said that when it comes to China the US would "compete vigorously, but I'm not looking for conflict", adding that, "I absolutely believe there need not be a new Cold War" with the rising Asian nation.

China has not announced the deployment of the JL-3 missile.

But senior US naval commanders warned earlier this year that the longer-range weapon would escalate the nuclear threat from China.

The JL-3 would allow China to target the continental US "from a protected bastion within the South China Sea," US Strategic Command Commander Admiral Charles Richard told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March 2022.