China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier has set out from a port in Liaoning on its maiden¹ voyage to start sea trials.

 

中国首艘国产航母驶离辽宁某港开始海试处女航。
 

 

The 50,000-ton vessel², codenamed Type 001A, is the second aircraft carrier launched by China. 

 

It follows the carrier Liaoning, which was put into service with China's navy in 2012.

 

The new carrier was launched on Sunday from its dock at the Dalian Shipyard.

 

The sea trial is focused on testing the reliability³ and stability of the carrier's power system and other critical equipment.

 

Construction of the new carrier began in November 2013, dry dock construction started in March 2015, and the vessel was launched in April last year.

 

Equipment debugging, outfitting⁴, and mooring⁵ tests have been completed in preparation for the vessel's maiden voyage. 

 

The new carrier contains more than 12,000 pieces of equipment made by 512 Chinese enterprises.

 

"Among those 532 enterprises, 412 are not military-industrial ones, accounting⁶ for about 77.4 percent. This demonstrates that the whole society, as well as our country's national industrial system, are both indispensable for our country's military industry," says Hu Wenming, the head of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, who led the research and development of the Type 001A carrier.

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