The Shandong, China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier, officially entered into service, in line with the Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ambitions for the country to build up its naval power.
A special ceremony in Sanya, a port in the southern island province of Hainan, was attended by officials from the Southern Theatre Command which oversees the South China Sea, according to CCTV.
The Chinese President also attended the event and met service personnel onboard the warship.
The vessel, previously known as the Type 001A, passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific trials and routine training” and headed to the South China Sea last month.
The ship, constructed by Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, was expected to be officially commissioned in April, but its trial phase took longer than some military observers had expected, suggesting it had suffered technical problems.
The aircraft carrier set out for its first sea trial in May 2018, according to SCMP.
China purchased its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a retrofitted Soviet-era vessel, back in 1998.
The new ship’s base is Qingdao, on the east coast, which is the Liaoning’s home port, and Li said the two bases were able to offer complementary services to the PLA Navy.
China is a great shipbuilding power, especially as the country officially announced the launch last month of the world’s largest shipbuilder under the name “China Shipbuilding Group”, resulting from the merger of its two largest shipbuilders, China State Shipbuilding Corp and China Shipbuilding Industry Co.