The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) most modern aircraft carrier was launched from Jiangnan Shipyard near Shanghai on Friday (June 17, 2022) amid Champagne, ribbons and water cannons, state media reported.
The Fujian will join CNS Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and CNS Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998, refitted domestically and commissioned in 2012.
The PLAN released a propaganda video commemorating the development of China’s carrier programme over the past decade. The video referred to the Communist Party’s upcoming congress, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping will likely secure a precedent-breaking third term as commander-in-chief.
President Xi is seeking to become the second most powerful navy in the world and eventually overtake the U.S. Navy. By the end of 2020, according to U.S. intelligence, the PLAN had 360 warships, numerically surpassing the 297 of the U.S. Navy.
According to China Central Television, CNS Fujian will displace about 80,000 tonnes, compared with about 100,000 tonnes for the U.S. Nimitz-class and Ford-class carriers. The carrier features a full-length flight deck with an electromagnetic catapult launch system.
PLAN named the new carrier after the coastal province of Fujian, just across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan and home to the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army.
