Beijing on Friday launched a high-tech aircraft carrier which was both designed and built in China in a major military milestone.
Fujian was released into the sea from a port in Shanghai, Chinese daily Global Times reported.
Xu Qiliang, a member of the Political Bureau of Communist Party of China's Central Committee and vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission, attended the ceremony.
"The Fujian (hull 18) is China's 1st fully domestically developed aircraft carrier with electromagnetic catapults," the report said.
The powerful aircraft carrier has "a displacement of more than 80,000 tons."
The development comes as the U.S. and China flex muscles in the strategic South China Sea which holds vast oil and gas reserves.
China launched its first aircraft carrier Liaoning (hull 16) in 2012, while Beijing commissioned its second aircraft carrier Shandong (hull 17) in 2019.
