It is far from ready for operations, but the launch "signified a major stage of progress of our country's indigenous design and construction of aircraft carriers", a People's Liberation Army (PLA) news bulletin said.
The new carrier will have a displacement of 50,000 tonnes, which means that the Type 001-A will be a mid-sized carrier, significantly smaller than the super-carriers operated by the USA, which are above 70,000 tonnes.
It is the country's second aircraft carrier, after the Liaoning, and the first to be made domestically.
It said the carrier would undergo more testing and fitting of equipment before trials in the water.
The launch was timed with USA sending a naval battle group headed by aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the Korean peninsula in a big show of strength. The ceremony, held amid heightened tensions in the region, nearly coincided with the U.S. deployment of THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea.
The unveiling ceremony was presided over by the vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Fan Changlong.
In March, it announced it would increase its military budget by about 7% this year - the second year in a row that increases have been less than 10%, after almost 20 years of larger increases. However, the carrier has not been fully armed and kitted and is expected to start operating three years from now.
Unlike the USA navy's longer-range nuclear carriers, both of China's feature Soviet-design so-called ski-jump bows, meant to give fighter jets enough lift to take off from shorter decks. China claims nearly all of the South China Sea, despite objections from the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The best indicator of what the completed CV-17 will look like actually comes from the island on the "land" carrier test building in Wuhan, which has also been upgraded with Type 346A radars this year. China has urged calm.
MLB's unlikely HR leader keeps brushing off not-so-random drug tests
Oh, and in case you're wondering, he has also been drug-tested twice this month, most recently Tuesday after home run No. 11. Where did he come from? Thames made his Major League Baseball debut in May of 2011.
But based on what we know about the Type 001A, we'll take a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered supercarrier over this unnamed hunk of junk any day.
State media has quoted experts as saying China needs at least six carriers, and a corresponding number of overseas bases to support them.
Russian and Chinese troops on the North Korean border were put on "high alert" earlier today and now China has launched their second-biggest aircraft carrier. "So, China has been significantly increasing its output of vessels that will be in a position to defend its aircraft carriers", Neill says.
But experts were quick to point out that China's naval force still lagged far behind that of the U.S., the world's leading military power, which has multiple carriers. The second carrier, which has still not been named, is larger than Liaoning, the first one, and hence capable of carrying more fuel and last longer in the waters.
"With two aircraft carriers you could say without much fear of contradiction that China, other than the United States, is the most powerful maritime force in the Asia-Pacific", Roggeveen said. "These will be ships with non-nuclear power plants, and a springboard take-off system for its aircraft, although the third of the ships is likely to also be equipped with a steam catapult".
Photos of the new vessel indicate that the ship has a ski jump and angled flight deck. But for that, we have to recalibrate our entire naval doctrine, which is easier said than done. That could come as soon as this week, but a publicity campaign involving the country's first aircraft carrier has produced some unexpected results.
The new carrier is certainly a step toward achieving those goals.
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