China established the Lop Nur Nuclear Test Base on 16 October 1959 with Soviet assistance in selection of the site, with its headquarters at Malan, about 125 km (78 mi) northwest of Qinggir. The first Chinese nuclear bomb test, codenamed '596', was tested at Lop Nur in 1964. The PRC detonated its first hydrogen bomb on June 17, 1967. Until 1996, 45 nuclear tests were conducted.