China has commissioned its first indigenously designed aircraft carrier, the Fujian, marking a new chapter in its bid to rival America’s maritime power.
Named after the province that faces Taiwan across a narrow strait, the Fujian officially entered service this week after months of sea trials, according to state media reports on Friday.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony on Wednesday in Hainan Province, boarding the Fujian afterwards to receive briefings on the vessel’s combat capabilities and its advanced launch systems, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The Fujian is China’s first aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults, a cutting-edge launch system that allows aircraft to take off with heavier weapon and fuel loads, extending their strike range.
Its commissioning makes China only the second nation in the world, after the US, to operate a carrier with this technology.
According to CNN, the electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) enables more efficient and powerful launches compared to the traditional ski-jump ramps used by China’s earlier carriers, the Liaoning and Shandong.
Weighing over 80,000 tonnes, the Fujian can carry a diverse fleet of aircraft, including fighter jets, early-warning planes, anti-submarine aircraft and drones.
Its capabilities are expected to enhance China’s maritime operations significantly as the country enters a new era with three operational aircraft carriers.
In sea trials conducted ahead of commissioning, the Chinese navy launched the J-35 stealth fighter, the KJ-600 early-warning aircraft and a variant of the J-15 fighter from the Fujian’s deck.
The vessel, bearing hull number 18, began its sea trials in May last year, two years after its launch in mid-2022.
The Fujian’s launch technology mirrors that of the USS Gerald R Ford, the US Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, which was certified for flight deck operations using EMALS in 2022.
Despite the milestone, two former US carrier officers told CNN that the Fujian’s air operations may still achieve only about 60 per cent of the efficiency of a 50-year-old US Navy carrier.
Adding to the debate over electromagnetic systems, US President Donald Trump on 28 October expressed his preference for steam-powered catapults, describing EMALS as costly, unreliable and difficult to repair.
Regional military attaches and analysts quoted by Reuters said they are closely observing the Fujian’s next phase of operations to assess how quickly it can become combat ready.
They plan to monitor its flight operations and how effectively it integrates with support ships and submarines in the months ahead.
“I think it will be at least another year before it reaches full operational capability,” Ben Lewis, founder of open source data platform PLATracker, told Reuters.
"Despite nine sea trials this year, they are working with almost entirely new platforms top to bottom," Lewis said ahead of Friday's announcement.
The Pentagon's annual report on China's military modernisation, released last December, noted that the Fujian and future similar carriers would boost China's ability to project military power, in part through deploying highly specialised electronic warfare and anti-submarine aircraft.
"This will increase the striking power of a potential People's Liberation Army Navy carrier battle group when deployed to areas beyond (China's) immediate periphery" it said.
