China has officially commissioned its new aircraft carrier, which will be named "Fujian" after the province of the same name. Its launch was marked by an official ceremony in the southern province of Hainan, attended by President Xi Jinping, Xinhua news agency reported.
During the event, Xi, who is general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspected the new warship and boarded it.
The ceremony was held at the naval base in the city of Sanya. Construction of the aircraft carrier began in June 2022, with "Fujian" being the first Chinese aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults for taking off carrier-based aviation, Xinhua notes.