By: Paarvana Sree
China is taking extensive efforts to modernize its Navy. During the 18th Party Congress in 2012, the then President Hu Jintao made a call for China to become a “maritime power” which is capable of safeguarding its maritime interest and rights. President Xi Jinping repeated this position in April 2016 and remarked that “that task of building a powerful navy has never been as urgent as it is today. China’s 2019 defence white paper highlighted the need “to build a strong and modernized naval force” which is capable of carrying out “missions on the far seas”.
The outcome of the modernization of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is an extensive growth in fleet size and capabilities. Research conducted by the leading organisation RAND suggests that China’s surface fleet in 1996 contained 57 destroyers and frigates, but only 3 of these vessels carried short-range Surface to Air Missiles (SAM), making them “defenceless against the modern Anti-Ship Cruise Missiles (ASCM)”.
In the past few decades, China’s navy made a rapid expansion. Around 2015, the Chinese Navy surpassed the US Navy in size and the PLAN made a continuous expansion year since then. The estimates of the US Congressional Research Service reveal that the Chinese Navy consists of 348 ships and submarines in 2021, while the US Department of Defence (DoD) puts the figure slightly higher than 355 vessels. It is to be noted that the fleet sizes of the other leading nations are smaller comparatively. As of 2021, the British Royal Navy consists of 76 ships and the Royal Australian Navy had a fleet of 44 ships.
Between the period of 2017 and 2019, China built more vessels than India, Australia, Japan, France and the UK combined. The vice admiral of Germany Kay-Achim Schonbach said that in 2021 that the Chinese Navy is expanding roughly equivalent to the entire French Navy in 4 years. In 2021, China commissioned 28 ships, while the US could only make 7 ships that year. If China continues to commission the ships at a similar rate, it could have 425 battle force ships by 2030.
According to DoD, a significant intention of the PLAN’s modernization effort is upgrading and augmenting its littoral warfare capabilities, especially in the South China Sea and East China Sea. In response to this China extended up the production of Jiangdao – class (Type 056) corvettes. Since the first being commissioned in 2013, at the end of 2021, approximately 70 types of corvettes have been commissioned. Among this approximately 20 to 22 were transferred to the Chinese coast guard and left 50 to 52 of these vessels to the PLAN. In early 2020, China completed the work on its final type of corvettes 056 and ceased the production to provide attention to advance its blue water capabilities.
It is to be noted that the capabilities of the Chinese Navy are expanding in other areas as well. RAND made a report that, based on the contemporary standards of the ship production for about 70% feet in 2011 is considered to be “modern” from less than 50% in 2010. China is also trying to produce large ships which are capable of accommodating advanced amateur and on board systems. The PLAN’s first type 055 cruisers for example entered service in 2019 and made a displacement between 4,000 to 5,000 tons than the type 052D which entered in service in 2014. The type 055 contains 112 vertical launch systems (VLS) missile cells that can help in area defence while accompanying China’s aircraft carriers in blue waters.
China is also making extensive efforts to build an overall tonnage of new ships that are being put into the sea. The number of ships launched by China between 2014 and 2018 approximately consists of 6,78,000 tons which is larger than that of navies of France and Spain. Moreover the total tonnage of the PLAN remains less than that of the navy of the US. As of 2018, the gap between the two corresponding navies is estimated at roughly 3 million tonnes. The difference can largely be dedicated to the US fielding 11 aircraft carriers, each displaying approximately 100,000 tons.
The growing and rapid expansion of PLAN has been undergirded by China’s growing ship building capability. During the period of the mid 1990s favourable conditions of the market and joint ventures with Japan and South Korea helped China to upgrade its ship building facilities and operational techniques. According to DoD, the expansion of these ship yards has further increased China’s ship building capacity and capability for all types of military projects including submarines, naval aviation and sea lift assets.
These also made China into a commercial ship building superpower. Merchant ship building rose from 1 million gross tonnes in 1996 to 39 million gross tonnes in 2011 which is thrice more than that of Japan in the same year. In 2018 China excelled South Korea to become a global leader in ship building and as of 2020, Chinese ship builders travelled to capture over 40% in the global market in terms of tonnage.
It is to be noted that the same state on companies that dominate ship building industries are also the major players in the military space. Until 2019 China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC) and China State Ship Building Corporation (CSSC), China’s two largest ship building companies contained three quarters of China’s overall ship building output. In November 2019, these two major companies merged into a single massive entity, the China Ship Building Corporation also known as (CSSC) which almost accounted for 21.5% ship orders in 2021.
There are basically 6 shipyard spreads across China that fulfils the share of China’s naval ship building needs. These shipyards contain the facilities for producing the commercial vessels. Jiangnan shipyard for instance has produced several type 055 cruisers and it is also responsible for building China’s third aircraft carrier. 20 shipyards are also responsible for delivering one of the world’s largest ethane and ethylene capable tankers. These shipyards continue to build numerous commercial container and tanker vessels.
China’s rapid naval expansion has positioned it as a leading global maritime power, challenging traditional naval dominance in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. With a modernized fleet, aircraft carriers, advanced submarines, and a growing presence in strategic waterways, China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is a key player in global security dynamics. Its naval strategy, bolstered by technological advancements and territorial ambitions, influences geopolitical tensions, particularly in the South China Sea. As China continues to project power, its naval capabilities will shape global maritime security, trade routes, and diplomatic relations, reinforcing its status as a formidable force in international waters.
