China's new aircraft carrier bigger than 'Liaoning'

By Chen Xia
0 Comment(s)Print E-mail China.org.cn, March 7, 2016
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According to China Radio International's website, China's second aircraft carrier, which is now under construction, might be bigger than the country's first.

Yin Zhuo, a Navy information technology expert and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) national committee which provides advice to the nation's top legislative body, the National People's Congress (NPC).

Yin Zhuo, a Navy information technology expert and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) national committee which provides advice to the nation's top legislative body, the National People's Congress (NPC).

The new vessel will have a bigger tonnage than the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, as the J-15 fighter jets that will be based on it need a ski jump to take off, said Yin Zhuo, a Navy information technology expert and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) national committee which provides advice to the nation's top legislative body, the National People's Congress (NPC).

Although the Liaoning also carries the same model of J-15 fighter jets, it is in a smaller size because of various historical reasons, Yin said. Formerly known as an ex-Soviet Varyag, the vessel remained incomplete when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. It encountered many obstacles when being delivered from Ukraine to China due to the size.

The country's second aircraft carrier will be fully homegrown, Yin said. It will follow the general outlook of the Liaoning, but the space will be re-designed. The hangar will be expanded with larger maintenance workshop, and more room will be used to store ammunition and petroleum, thus making the ship more independent and more powerful.

China has no intention to engage in an arms race, which will devastate the country's economy, Yin said. China's defense budget accounts for about 1.5 percent of the total national GDP, while the figure usually stands at 4.5 percent in the United States and hovers between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent in the UK and France.

In January, China's National Defense Ministry confirmed that a new aircraft carrier is under construction in the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning Province.

According to a budget report to the national legislature's annual session, China will see its lowest defense budget increase in six years, up 7.6 percent to 954 billion yuan (US$146 billion) in 2016.

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