China's future aircraft carriers to be larger, faster, smarter: engineer

China

China's future aircraft carriers to be larger, faster, smarter: engineer

2025-11-08 10:12 Last Updated At：13:07

China's future aircraft carriers will be larger, faster, and more intelligent, said an engineer from the builder of the Fujian aircraft carrier, the country's first one equipped with electromagnetic catapults, which was officially commissioned on Wednesday.

Qiao Jia, director of the interior assembly department of the aircraft carrier builder China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited (CSSC) Jiangnan Shipyard Group, said that China's aircraft carriers will be capable of carrying a greater number and variety of aircraft in the future.

"I think China's future aircraft carriers can be described in a few words. It will be larger with a bigger platform. It will be faster with greater power. It will carry more aircraft with a greater number and variety of carrier-based aircraft. And it will be more intelligent, in terms of the ship's control system, the carrier-based aircraft, and our entire combat system," said Qiao.

Named after Fujian Province in eastern China and launched in June 2022, the Fujian aircraft carrier was independently designed and built by China, bearing the hull number 18. It is the country's third carrier currently in service and is considered a vital part in enhancing the Chinese Navy's far-sea defense capabilities and modernization level.

Equipped with electromagnetic catapults, the aircraft carrier will be able to carry significantly more and heavier-armed fighters than the Liaoning and Shandong carriers, which are smaller and rely on ramps to launch aircraft.

Qiao said he expected to see further leaps forward in China's aircraft carrier building.

"We still lag behind in the number of aircraft carriers, but we have progressed from having none to having excellent ones. We could say we are now on par with the leading pack in the field. I hope that we can achieve the leap from keeping pace to taking the lead in the overall technology, advanced level, and tonnage of the aircraft carrier in our generation," he said.

Nicaraguan FM warns of militarism revival

Nicaragua's co-foreign minister Valdrack Jaentschke has warned that militarism must never be allowed to rise again, as Japan's recent moves to lift its arms export ban and revise the pacifist Constitution continue to draw international concern.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, where Japan's Class-A war criminals from World War II were brought to justice.

In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Valdrack Jaentschke voiced his concern that today's world order is being undermined by interventionism and other challenges.

"It is necessary for us to remember that after the end of World War II, countries worked hard to build a new international order based on international law. However, regrettably, more than 80 years later, we are seeing that this once explored and attempted order is being challenged by interventionism, a confrontational mindset, and tendencies like 'might makes right.' These are precisely the conditions that gave rise to fascism and militarism in the past, which ultimately led to the tragedy of World War II," he said.

He said the international community has a responsibility to pursue a new international order -- one fundamentally grounded in peace.

"Looking back at the history more than eight decades ago and comparing it with today's reality, it is our responsibility to recognize that the world should, and must, build a new international order that is more just, fairer, rooted in international law, based on a logic of mutual benefit and shared success, and fundamentally grounded in peace," said the minister.

"Today, as we revisit the Tokyo Trials, it is meant to remind the world that such a tragedy must never be repeated -- and that we must do everything in our power to prevent it from happening again. We must stop that dark world -- born from militarism, interventionism, and fascism -- from ever returning," he said.