Hong Kong (CNN) China has officially commissioned its first domestically-built aircraft carrier, the Shandong, a significant step forward in Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitions for the country to field a world-class navy. China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, a retrofitted Soviet-era vessel, was purchased from the Ukrainian government in 1998. JUST WATCHED Rare look inside China's aircraft carrier Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Rare look inside China's aircraft carrier 01:29Aircraft launched by catapults can get airborne quicker and with greater quantities of fuel and ammunition, giving them an advantage over Chinese planes, which rely on their own power when lifting off from ski-jumps. Both of China's aircraft carriers, the Shandong and the Liaoning, are named after coastal provinces close to Beijing. After the commissioning of #China's first domestically built aircraft carrier Shandong, China becomes the first Asian country to build a self-designed aircraft carrier since World War II and the third country to own a dual-carrier battle group after the US and the UK.

Source: CNN December 18, 2019 04:01 UTC