China is at the forefront of building submarines and now has more than the United States, says a Navy admiral testifying before a congressional committee that is discussing future funding for US defense projects.

Vice Admiral Joseph Mulloy told legislators on Thursday that not only is China building "some fairly amazing submarines" but that the Chinese are carrying out more deployments and expanding their area of operations as part of an rapid military buildup.

"We know they are out experimenting and looking at operating, and clearly want to be in this world of advanced submarines," Mulloy told committee members, according to Reuters.

US military officials are in the middle of a major push to stay ahead of the Chinese, said Mulloy, adding that while the Chinese submarines are inferior in quality compared to those from the US, there are more Chinese nuclear and diesel vessels than what the US has, even though the US has the world's largest defense budget.

The US Navy has 71 commissioned submarines, while the Chinese have 77 principal surface combatant ships, 61 submarines, 55 large and medium amphibious ships, and about 85 missile-equipped smaller combatant ships.

Source: Sputnik International