hina's first domestically built aircraft carrier, the Type 001A, leaves the shipyard of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd. as it sets out for sea trials in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning province on 13 May. Photo: IC
China officially commissioned its first homegrown aircraft carrier into its navy Tuesday, two years after the vessel’s launch for sea trials.
President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning ceremony of the carrier, officially named the Shandong, at a naval base in Sanya, in the southern island province of Hainan.
Xi endorsed a People’s Liberation Army flag and naming certificate to the captain and political commissar of the carrier at the ceremony, state media reported.
The carrier, the country’s second, was constructed in Shandong by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry starting in November 2013. It was launched in April 2017 at the Dalian Shipyard and set out for its first sea trial in May 2018. It was previously named the 001A.
China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, was refitted from a Soviet Kuznetsov-class vessel and commissioned in 2012.
The new vessel will be able to carry 36 J-15 fighter jets, compared with the Liaoning’s capacity of 24, according to state media. It is based in Sanya near the South China Sea, while the Liaoning is based in Qingdao, near the East China Sea, Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea.
Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com)
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