China has officially put into service its newest aircraft carrier, CV-18 Fujian, the nation’s third carrier and the first to be fully designed and built domestically. The vessel was commissioned during a ceremony on Wednesday at the Chinese naval base in Sanya on Hainan Island, attended by President Xi Jinping.
Fujian: China’s Largest and Most Advanced Carrier
According to the state news agency Xinhua, the carrier began its first sea trials on May 1, 2024, departing from Shanghai. The Fujian, designated as Project 003, was constructed by Jiangnan Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., part of the China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), on Changxing Island in Shanghai. It is now the largest warship ever built for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Construction of the Fujian began in February 2016, and the vessel was launched on June 17, 2022. Named after the eastern Chinese province of Fujian, the ship represents a major leap in Chinese naval capability.
Design and Technical Features
The Fujian rivals U.S. Navy supercarriers in scale. With a conventional propulsion system, it is expected to be the world’s largest non-nuclear aircraft carrier, boasting a full displacement of 80,000 to 85,000 tons. The carrier measures 316 meters in overall length, with a beam of up to 76 meters.
The vessel features a four-shaft conventional power plant, reportedly based on a steam-turbine system derived from earlier Chinese carriers Liaoning and Shandong, but significantly upgraded. Some sources suggest it uses a turbo-electric drive system powered by electric motors.
The Fujian follows a classic carrier design with a single island superstructure and an angled flight deck. For the first time in Chinese naval history, it employs an electromagnetic catapult system for aircraft launches and arrestor gear for recoveries. The ship is equipped with three electromagnetic catapults and two aircraft elevators.
From Soviet Heritage to Indigenous Innovation
China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, originated as the Soviet-built heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Varyag (Project 11436). The ship was laid down in 1985 at the Black Sea Shipyard in Mykolaiv (then part of the USSR) and launched in 1988. Construction halted in 1992 after the Soviet collapse, leaving the ship about 68% complete.
In May 1998, China purchased the unfinished Varyag from Ukraine for $26 million through a Hong Kong-based intermediary and towed it to China in 2000. In March 2002, the ship entered dry dock at the Dalian Shipyard of the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC), part of the former China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC). The acquisition also included the full technical documentation for Project 11436, purchased from Nevskoye Design Bureau in St. Petersburg for just $840,000.
From that foundation, China has evolved from refurbishing foreign-built vessels to designing its own advanced carriers like the Fujian, a testament to its rapid progress in naval engineering and strategic ambition.
