TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — China commissioned its third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, last Wednesday, significantly extending Beijing’s military reach.

China’s first carrier both designed and built domestically features an electromagnetic catapult-assisted takeoff and arrested recovery system, according to China Power Project. This helps the carrier to launch fixed-wing aircraft that are weightier both in fuel and payload.

The 80,000-tonne ship is estimated to carry around 50–60 fixed-wing aircraft, including J-15T heavy fighters, J-35 stealth fighters, and KJ-600 early warning and control aircraft. It is expected to be manned by a crew of about 2,000 and travel at roughly 55–57 kilometers per hour.

The ship is similar to the USS Gerald R. Ford in using electromagnetic catapults rather than ski jumps, per the Financial Times. However, as a conventionally powered carrier, its endurance is more limited than that of US nuclear-powered carriers.

Nevertheless, the Fujian marks a major milestone for China’s shipbuilding and naval operations. Beijing views aircraft carriers as symbols of national power and key assets for countering the US military presence in the Indo-Pacific, especially in a Taiwan Strait contingency, FT said.

China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, was commissioned in 2012, and its second, the Shandong, in 2019. In July, the PLA deployed two carriers outside the First Island Chain, and another carrier also operated outside the Second Island Chain for the first time.

These missions brought the carriers closer to US air and naval bases in Guam and Hawaii than ever before. The addition of Fujian comes as Chinese leader Xi Jinping seeks to modernize the military by 2035 and build a “world-class” force by 2049, per FT.