In an article celebrating the sixth anniversary of the first Chinese carrier, Liaoning, the official Xinhua news agency, announced the future of the country's fleet.
"Six years have passed, our national carrier has been put on trial and commissioning is imminent.The new aircraft carrier has also been built on the slipway," says the article.
China's second aircraft carrier, Type 001A, is the first such vessel built in the country and has been undergoing sea trials during the 2018 year.
However, rumors circulated last year that another more sophisticated vessel was already under construction in China.
In June, the No. 701 research institute of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, one of the largest ship design firms in China, provoked speculation by publishing a model of the unidentified aircraft carrier.
Chinese official media had speculated that the new ship would have an electromagnetic catapult aircraft launch system, similar to the technology used on the most recent and most advanced aircraft carrier. from the US Navy.
Liaoning and Type 001A both use the oldest and least advanced launch system, known as a ski jump, which relies on the power of the aircraft to take off.
Says in front of the Chinese tabloid The Global Times, military experts said the new carrier would probably take more than two years to complete due to its relative complexity and larger size.
Previous state media articles speculated on the construction of the new aircraft carrier in Shanghai.
This announcement once again highlights the rapid modernization of the Chinese military in recent decades. Beijing has not hidden its desire to build a modern navy "blue waters" capable of extending the country's reach globally and competing with the United States.
In 2018, the Chinese military budget increased by 8% over the previous year, reaching a total of $ 175 billion. Between 2010 and 2017, the Chinese Navy increased its strength from 210 to 320 ships, said Robert Ross, a professor of political science at Boston College, CNN in May.
"The US Navy and its capabilities will always be superior to the Chinese navy in 10 years, but the Chinese fleet will be larger and will have bridged the gap in technology and training," Ross said on time.
Nanlin Fang and Brad Lendon of CNN contributed to this article.
