China's sole operational aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a repurposed Soviet ship bought from Ukraine, which went into service in 2012. The possession of a homegrown aircraft carrier places China among the few military powers with such vessels, including the United States, Russia and Britain. But it would still be no match in size or range to the nuclear-powered vessels of the United States Navy, which has 11 carriers. Chinese state media have been speculating that a third home-made aircraft carrier was in the works, but the defence ministry has yet to confirm this. China's defence budget rose 8.1% to 1.1 trillion yuan (5.5 billion baht) in 2018, but it is still only about one-quarter that of the United States.

Source: Bangkok Post May 13, 2018 03:11 UTC