Development of the Chinese Navy in Photos

From zero ships to fleet patrolling overseas, from a small group lacking everything to a fully outfitted naval force, the Chinese Navy has gone through seven extraordinary decades.
by China Pictorial
微信图片 20190423153937
China’s Liaoning aircraft carrier fleet is navigating at high speed. by Zhang Lei

April 23, 2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. From small gunboats at Baimamiao County to escort fleet at the Gulf of Aden, from liberating Yijiangshan Islands in 1955 to evacuating overseas Chinese in Yemen, from overseeing its fleet on a fishing boat to a parade at the South China Sea joined by 48 warships and 76 airplanes in 2018, the Chinese Navy has flourished in its seven decades. It has become a reliable force protecting China’s marine sovereignty.

From zero ships to fleet patrolling overseas, from a small group lacking everything to a fully outfitted naval force, the Chinese Navy has gone through seven extraordinary decades.

November 1961: Pilots of Chinese Naval Aviation Force preparing for a flight.

1966: China’s domestically designed and built Type 033 Conventional Torpedo Submarine, completed at a shipyard in Wuchang, Hubei Province.

1973: The Nanhai Fleet of the Chinese Navy protects fishing fleets in waters off Shantou, Guangdong Province.

May 18, 1980: China successfully sent a carrier rocket to a preset area in the Pacific Ocean. This picture shows the Chinese Navy monitoring the area.  

1988: The earliest stilt house on the South China Sea, home to Chinese soldiers protecting Nansha Islands.  by Jiang Binghe

July 28, 2014: Naval aircraft conduct aerial refueling.  by Wu Chuanjun

September 3, 2014: During the “Mission-2014” campaign conducted by the Chinese Navy, medical officers from Australia and China give medical treatment to a patient.

2015: Soldiers from Chinese naval vessel Linyi evacuate Chinese citizens in Yemen.  by Xiong Libing

The Chinese Navy conducts live-fire drills using ground-to-ship missiles. by Zhao Changhong

Soldiers of Chinese naval special forces conduct drills of landing from a helicopter.

China’s homemade missile frigate Yulin navigates on the high seas.  by Wu Kangci

A latest-version Chinese Navy submarine navigates on the high seas. by Dai Zongfeng

A J-15 fighter jet prepares for a carrier landing.  by Zhang Lei

Chinese naval soldiers take their oaths on the Pacific Ocean.  by Dai Zongfeng