China begins building 3rd aircraft carrier; to be deployed in Indian Ocean

China has started building its third aircraft carrier with a hi-tech launch system even as it is completing a new type of destroyer with modern weapons to be deployed in Indian Ocean and South China Sea, a media report said on Friday.

The carrier's construction has started even as another home-grown carrier is being built at a Shanghai shipyard since last year, Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported quoting People's Liberation Army (PLA) officials.

China launched its first aircraft carrier in 2014 which is a refitted vessel of the hull of a former Soviet ship.

Last April, China launched its first indigenously-built aircraft carrier which is being fitted with equipment. It had already announced plans to build a third one earlier. The second aircraft carrier is expected to be launched this year.

The Shanghai shipyard is still working on the third aircraft carrier's hull, which is expected to take about two years, the Post reported.

"Building the new carrier will be more complicated and challenging than the other two ships," it quoted a PLA official as saying.

China has been trying to build up a blue-water navy giving precedence to its navy as it looks to expand its influence globally.
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