China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, enters service

7/11/2025 17:03

The commissioning of China's latest aircraft carrier this week marks a new chapter in its military modernisation effort but security analysts and regional diplomats say tough challenges lie ahead before it can be made fully operational.



President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the Fujian in Hainan province on Wednesday, and boarded the vessel for an inspection tour, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.



The Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier, with a flat flight deck and electromagnetic catapults for take-offs that make it a potentially far more powerful naval weapon than China's first two Russian-designed carriers.



The Fujian will be able to carry significantly more and heavier-armed jet fighters than the Liaoning and Shandong carriers, which are smaller and rely on ramps to launch aircraft.



In sea trials ahead of the commissioning, the Chinese navy launched its new carrier version of the J-35 stealth fighter and an early-warning aircraft, the KJ-600, as well as a variant of its established J-15 fighter.



Chinese defence officials and state media have in recent weeks been hailing the prospect of the Fujian as a "milestone".