China has officially commissioned its newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian — a milestone that underscores Beijing’s accelerating push to rival American naval power and reshape the balance of maritime influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping presided over the carrier’s commissioning ceremony earlier this week at a military port in Sanya, on Hainan Island, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
More than 2,000 naval personnel and shipbuilders were present as Xi toured the vessel and symbolically pressed the catapult launch button on its flight deck — a moment rich with political and military symbolism.
The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier and the first equipped with electromagnetic catapults (EMALS) — the same cutting-edge launch technology used by the U.S. Navy’s USS Gerald R. Ford.
The system allows aircraft to take off with heavier payloads and more fuel, dramatically extending their combat range and operational flexibility.
Xi personally approved the adoption of the EMALS system, according to Chinese state media.
During the ceremony, three catapult launch positions and carrier-based aircraft — the J-35 stealth fighter, J-15T, and KJ-600 early-warning plane — were prominently displayed on the deck. Nearby, China’s second carrier, the Shandong, was docked for a synchronized show of naval strength.
Launched in 2022 and tested at sea in 2024, the Fujian marks a new era for the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).
Displacing about 80,000 tons, it is the largest conventional warship ever built in Asia and China’s first flat-deck carrier, replacing the “ski-jump” ramps used on earlier carriers Liaoning and Shandong.
Its entry into service is being celebrated across Chinese social media, where the hashtag “My country’s first electromagnetic catapult-equipped aircraft carrier enters service” drew over 10 million views within an hour of the announcement — reflecting both national pride and Xi’s political messaging that China is now a peer competitor to the U.S. at sea.
Under Xi’s decade-long military modernization campaign, China has built the world’s largest navy by number of vessels, commissioning warships at a rate unmatched by any other nation.
The buildup has fueled growing unease among regional neighbors and the United States, especially as Beijing becomes more assertive in the South China Sea and seeks to project power across the western Pacific.
Despite its scale, analysts say China still lags far behind the U.S. Navy in operational experience, nuclear propulsion, and sortie generation rates.
Two former U.S. carrier officers told CNN that the Fujian’s air operations might reach only 60% efficiency of a U.S. carrier’s due to flight-deck configuration and fuel constraints.
Unlike America’s nuclear-powered carriers, the Fujian runs on conventional fuel and must return to port or refuel at sea, limiting its endurance.
Even so, the ship represents a leap in Chinese military capability — and a clear statement of intent.
China is already working on its next-generation carrier, the Type 004, expected to combine EMALS with nuclear propulsion, potentially closing one of the last technological gaps separating the PLAN from its American counterpart.
For Washington, the Fujian’s commissioning signals that naval parity in the Indo-Pacific is no longer theoretical — it’s taking shape on the water.
