China notified France before test-firing a long-range ballistic missile into the Pacific on Wednesday, authorities in French Polynesia said, adding that the weapon had landed not far from its exclusive economic zone. The missile test, which China’s defence ministry said was carrying a dummy warhead, was its first such exercise in decades. “The Chinese authorities previously notified their French counterparts of this test,” the French High Commission said in a statement, adding that France would make its position on the test known. French Polynesia President Moetai Brotherson earlier told AFP that “the missile fell not far from… the Marquesas Islands”, an archipelago that is part of its exclusive economic zone. Beijing has stepped up its nuclear development and boosted defence spending in recent years, with the Pentagon warning last October that China was developing its arsenal more quickly than the United States had anticipated.