As the year 2025 has come to its conclusion, Naval News provides the usual annual review on notable developments for the Chinese Navy. This first part will outline relevant additions to the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) surface fleet and also takes a brief look at operational trends. A second part to follow will look at submarines, auxiliaries and experimental efforts.
Fujian-commissioning and Type 004
The official commissioning of aircraft carrier Fujian (18) at Yulin naval base on November 5 represents undoubtedly the headline event for the Chinese Navy in 2025. The ceremony on the island of Hainan in the South China Sea represented a milestone in several regards. With three operatioal carriers PLAN firmly established itself as the second-largest operator of aircraft carriers worldwide. However, the gap to the United States Navy at the top remains rather substantial. As regularly noted, Fujian is the first supercarrier equipped with catapults, in particular the electromagnetic variety, outside the American fleet.
Fujian has since carried out further shakedown trials. Activities included a transit from the South China Sea to the Yuchi naval base in the Northern Theatre Command. Yuchi is the homeport for China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning (16). Fujian arrived in the Yellow Sea on December 18, where she remains docked next to Liaoning as of this writing.
Meanwhile a much speculated new construction at Dalian Shipbuilding in the eponymous northern Chinese city has developed to the point where observers are almost certain it represents the next aircraft carrier for PLAN, notionally termed Type 004. The hull is notable for its particular dimensions, slow build pace and distinct features. In combination these aspects point towards a nuclear-powered carrier indeed taking shape at Dalian.
Dalian is of course notable as having spearheaded the Chinese aircraft carrier program. The new vessel is taking shape in the same drydock where Liaoning underwent rebuilding and Shandong (17) was constructed.
The US government published its most recent report to Congress on Chinese military developments, dubbed the “Chinese Military Power Report” (CMPR), on December 23. The document includes the notable claim about China producing six further aircraft carriers by 2035. The phrasing allows some room for interpretation, such as the state of construction of any particular unit by this deadline. Fujian started module assembly in 2018, followed by launch in 2022, sea trials in 2024 and commissioning this year. Either way such a construction pace would require parallel construction of future carriers at Dalian and Jiangnan.
The CMPR-remark is pertinent because of speculation among PLAN-observers that Jiangnan may produce another Fujian-type carrier, while Dalian focuses on Type 004. Supporting such notions is the fact that the land-based carrier-mockup at Wuhan has also seen substantial rebuilding this year. The facility is indicative of future Chinese carrier construction and saw utilisation for Liaoning, Shandong and Fujian. Reconstruction included a much further set back island, somewhat akin to the U.S. Navy Ford-class CVN. Observers including this writer initially tied the effort entirely to Type 004.
However, the new model continues to include a distinct funnel behind the island, in deviation from the configuration on Fujian. A nuclear powered carrier does not require such a feature. However, Fujian may experience issues with excessive soot accumulating on the integrated mast ahead of the funnel. Should Jiangnan undertake construction of a second conventionally powered aircraft carrier, a re-design and related activity at Wuhan would appear plausible.
It is important to note that presently there is no indication of active construction at Jiangnan related to another carrier. As things stand, the matter awaits further clarification in 2026.
Type 076 and Type 075 big deck amphibious vessels
The second most prominent event for the Chinese Navy in 2025 was the start of sea trials for the large catapult-equipped amphibious assault carrier Sichuan (51) on November 14. Naval News has extensively covered the remarkably rapid construction culminating in launch of the vessel back in December 2024. Sichuan initially carried out a brief first sea trial lasting only a few days. The new vessel then conducted a second trial lasting approximately two weeks and finishing December 16. Afterwards, the large new amphibious vessel, with a displacement of over 40,000 tons, returned to Shanghai. There, Sichuan proceeded to dry-dock, notably at the old Hudong-facilities on the Huangpu River.
By the end of December observers noted as many as six UCAV resembling one of the types displayed at the major Chinese military parade in Beijing back in September this year. Whether Sichuan makes use of the presumed mockups for the next stage of her sea trials, remains to be seen. Mockup presence near the vessel is plausible for various testing purposes, although the number of airframes seems unusual.
For now, it is unclear if Sichuan will enter service with the PLAN in 2026. Preceding Type 075 LHDs took on average over 18 months from launch to commissioning, and at least 12 months from first sea trial. Sichuan may notionally require additional shake-down time due to the increased complexity of the design.
Meanwhile, the fourth Type 075 LHD, Hubei (34) underwent a far more low profile commissioning with PLAN. The 35,000 ton LHD transferred from builder Hudong to the Zhanjiang naval base in January 2025, still lacking a hull number. For the next few months the ship presumably conducted service trials. Hubei received her pennant and name around four months later, with related imagery circulating in May.
Construction of additional vessels for Type 075 or Type 076 is not yet confirmed. The previous expectation among observers had been that further Type 075 LHDs would follow, somewhat reflecting the procurement rate of Type 071 LPDs, of which PLAN has eight in service. However, with the emergence of the Type 076, the Chinese Navy may want to transition to this larger and more capable LHD compared to Type 075. Such a step could explain a delay in further procurement, until Sichuan validates the new design with further trials.
While the high profile aircraft carrier- and amphibious carrier-programs achieved benchmarks for individual hulls, the year 2025 signified milestones in quantity for the escort fleet, including destroyers and frigates.
Notable numbers of new destroyers entering service
Production of the second batch of Type 055 large destroyers, referred to as cruisers by American officials, appears to have concluded until further notice. Unlike the first batch including eight hulls, with four each produced at Jiangnan and Dalian, the second batch totaled three hulls per builder for a sum of six. The first two units launched in December 2023 at Jiangnan and May 2024 at Dalian. Jiangnan then launched the second Type 055 possibly in March 2025 and the third hull in September. Dalian meanwhile launched hull #2, the 12th overall in April, and hull #3, the 14th and final of the batch so far in October.
Finally for Type 055, official PLAN footage circulating via social media on December 28 revealed progress on inducting the YJ-20 antiship missile with these destroyers. The Type 055 destroyer Wuxi (104) launched an unspecified number of the new weapons in what the PLA media release dubbed a “type certification test”. Naval News previously outlined this capability, first observed in footage around 2022, in the context of the Chinese military parade in September 2025.
Based on imagery circulating in December on social media the Eastern Theatre Command (ETC) will receive their first Type 055 from the second production batch. The first batch units in contrast went to the Northern and Southern Theatre Command, with four hulls each based at Sanya/Longpo and Yuchi respectively. The ETC is presently operating all four Sovremenny-class DDG together with Type 052D as their most significant surface combatants. It appears plausible that at least four of the six units are earmarked for the ETC.
In the context of Type 055 joining ETC service it bears mentioning that three out of four Sovremenny-class destroyers have now completed their comprehensive modernization. Taizhou (138) appeared in her new configuration in official imagery released in November. Presumably the fourth and final Sovremenny-class DDG, Ningbo (139), will complete her refit in the near future. Comprehensive modernization of these now ageing destroyers seems to underscore a desire by PLAN to not compromise on numbers for their larger and more capable combatants.
The year 2025 also represented somewhat of a banner year in Type 052D DDG construction for the Chinese Navy. Both Dalian and Jiangnan continue to fit out recently produced hulls of the variant commonly referred to as 052DM, to differentiate the modified batch from the previous, also modified 052DL variant. Dalian has produced six of these vessels, five in the original large drydock at their primary facilities. The builder then launched one further hull at the site in Dagushan, where the yard has also produced their recent Type 055 hulls.
Meanwhile Jiangnan appears to have produced six or seven further units in Shanghai, for a total of up to 13 destroyers. PLAN appears to have taken into service seven or eight of these units before the end of 2025. The total output for this missile destroyer displacing between 7,000 and 7,500 tons with 64 VLS cells is now approaching 40 hulls since construction had started about 14 years ago.
Frigate construction between numbers and innovation
In the meantime, frigate construction for the Chinese Navy in 2025 marked a year of both continuity and transition. The first two Type 054B new generation frigates both entered service in the first few months of the year. The first hull, Luohe (545), commissioned with the Northern Theatre Command in Qingdao on January 22. The second unit, Quinzhou (555) then followed some time before April, serving with the Southern Theatre Command. Notably, so far no imagery shows further units under construction at either Huangpu or Hudong.
This has led some observers to speculate the type is not an acceptable design for PLAN. Such speculation identified further proof in continued production of the Type 054A design in its 054AG-variant at both builders. However, it is important to point out that PLAN is typically conservative in adaption of new warship designs. Validation and induction of new warships takes time, while the shipyards have a preference for continued production. The Chinese Navy also evidently still pursues a course of further rapid growth and modernization.
In that context the new year will likely be indicative of what shape the transition from the older 054A design to the new generation frigate will take. Unconfirmed rumors suggest the PLAN has already placed an order for additional 054B.
The Chinese Navy reaching out, with mixed results
Finally, Naval News will briefly look at operational deployments. Several events attracted significant media attention outside of the more regular exercises and presence operations.
The first was deployment of a PLAN task force comprising one Type 055 DDG, one Type 054A frigate and one Type 903 replenishment oiler in the South Pacific and Southern Ocean, circumnavigating Australia. Australian officials referred to the flotilla as Task Force 107, based on the Type 055 hull number. The units carried out two live fire drills in waters between Australia and New Zealand. Both ADF and NZDF vessels and aircraft observed these activities, as Naval News reported on in detail earlier last year.
In early December 2025 Australian officials announced they were monitoring another Chinese task force, including a Type 075 LHD. The revelation seemed to suggest the PLAN vessels were once again heading for waters near Australia. However, this expectation turned out to be incorrect. Instead, the Chinese warships instead took a northern course to participate in another round of live fire drills around Taiwan.
The second high profile event in 2025 concerned the collision between a Chinese Navy Type 052D destroyer, Guilin (164), with a Chinese Coast Guard OPV, on August 11. The CCG vessel, a modified Type 056 corvette, sustained heavy damage to her bow. Meanwhile, the PLAN destroyer experienced moderate damage. The much-reported incident resulted from both Chinese vessels chasing a Philippine coast guard vessel screening Philippine fishing boats in the area. Guilin appeared in new imagery in November, with the damage repaired. The CCG OPV moved to the PLAN- and CCG-facilities at Yulin on Hainan for repair. Her current status is unclear as of this writing.
Both events illustrate the increasing assertivness of PLAN and CCG in pursuit of Chinese policy objectives, with mixed results. Positive and negative outcomes in that regard plausibly provide experience to a navy growing and stretching their “sea legs”. In this regard the near future will illustrate, whether PLAN has adequately adapted their deployments based on these experiences.
One other notable event was an apparent OPFOR exercise between PLAN’s two operational carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, in June 2025. The deployment took both carriers past the first island chain, lasting about two weeks. Chinese official sources did not reveal operational details of note. However, navigation points documented for the vessels suggest some sort of adversarial training scenarios. Having two, and in the future, more carriers allows PLAN to carry out increasingly realistic simulations and drills also considering a notional confrontation with the United States Navy.
Further operations included a cruise by aircraft carrier Liaoning and supporting naval units near Japan in early December. That event included reported radar lock-ons by carrier-based J-15 fighters onto JASDF fighter jets. Such interactions may underscore how PLAN intends to wield their maturing capabilities.
Conclusion
The PLAN surface fleet already benefits from veritable quantitative advantages projecting power into the waters around the People’s Republic of China. Meanwhile, qualitative and numerical growth of PLAN does not appear to slow down. Such observations will presumably compel neighboring states to increasingly revise their own force postures.
As the Australian case illustrates, the Chinese Navy is willing and capable of projecting power into maritime regions further abroad. The new year may provide further indications on this trend. Numerous commissioning and events in 2025 as outlined here would suggest the Chinese Navy is not just here to stay. A larger and more capable surface fleet may also stay here, and elsewhere, more often.
The post Reviewing the Chinese Navy in 2025 – Part I: The surface fleet appeared first on Naval News.
发布者：Alex Luck，转转请注明出处：https://robotalks.cn/reviewing-the-chinese-navy-in-2025-part-i-the-surface-fleet-3/
