According to China, the test was conducted in accordance with international law and was not directed against any other country, but it is still being linked to the country's growing nuclear ambitions.
This is extremely unusual and probably the first time in several decades that we see a test of this kind, says Ankit Panda, researcher at the think tank Carnegie.
China has, according to the Stockholm-based peace research institute Sipri's latest annual report, the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal after the USA and Russia. The country conducted its very first nuclear test in 1964 and its latest test of an intercontinental robot, as far as is known, in 1980.
We are entering a new era where the USA and China are being drawn into what feels like an arms race, says Jeffrey Lewis, missile and disarmament researcher at Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey, USA.
New Zealand expresses concern after the Chinese robot landed in the sea in their part of the world and describes the test as an "unwelcome" development. The Japanese government emphasizes that the test took place without warning from China.
This military development in China, which is taking place without transparency, is a major concern for Japan and the international community, says the government's spokesperson Yoshimasa Hayashi.
