China's First Home-built Aircraft Carrier Begins Sea Trials
China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier headed out for sea trials on May 13, Chinese state media reported.
The new ship, which is set to boost the military capability of the country, is the second Chinese aircraft carrier, but the first to be fully designed in China, as the first - "Liaoning" - was built on the base of the unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier "Varyag."
The report said that the new aircraft carrier, temporarily named Type 001A, sailed out at around 7 a.m. in Dalian, in the northeast province of Liaoning.
The Chinese Navy — officially the People’s Liberation Army Navy — already has one operational carrier, the Liaoning, which it bought unfinished from Ukraine after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
So, the 50,000-tonne ship will become the country's second aircraft carrier, and the first to be entirely built and designed inside of China, when it joins the navy sometime before 2020.
State media reports say China is also planning to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier capable of remaining at sea for long durations. China reportedly began construction of a third aircraft carrier, designated Type 002, at a Shanghai shipyard last year.
According to AP report, China has the world's largest navy in terms of numbers of ships, although it lags behind the U.S. in technology and combat capabilities.
