Editing People's Liberation Army (section)

==== Navy ====
[[File:Maritime Interdiction Operations at RIMPAC 2016 160718-N-CA112-003.jpg|thumb|A PLAN [[destroyer]] conducting maritime interdiction operations at [[Exercise RIMPAC#RIMPAC 2016|RIMPAC 2016]]]]
{{Main|People's Liberation Army Navy}}

Until the early 1990s, the PLA Navy (PLAN) performed a subordinate role to the [[People's Liberation Army Ground Force|PLA Ground Force]] (PLAGF). Since then it has undergone rapid modernisation. The 300,000 strong PLAN is organized into three major fleets: the [[North Sea Fleet]] headquartered at [[Qingdao]], the [[East Sea Fleet]] headquartered at [[Ningbo]], and the [[South Sea Fleet]] headquartered in [[Zhanjiang]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Chi-yuk |first=Choi |date=27 May 2013 |title=PLA Navy's three fleets meet in South China Sea for rare show of force |work=[[South China Morning Post]] |url=http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2018-05/03/content_8022441.htm |access-date=10 December 2022 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210200844/http://eng.chinamil.com.cn/view/2018-05/03/content_8022441.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Each fleet consists of a number of [[surface ship]], [[submarine]], [[naval air force]], [[coastal defence and fortification|coastal defence]], and [[marine (military)|marine]] units.<ref>{{Cite report |url=https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/China_Media/2015_PLA_NAVY_PUB_Print_Low_Res.pdf?ver=2015-12-02-081233-733 |title=The PLA Navy: New Capabilities and Missions for the 21st Century |date=2 December 2015 |publisher=[[Office of Naval Intelligence]] |location=Washington, D.C. |access-date=10 December 2022 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221210200842/https://www.oni.navy.mil/Portals/12/Intel%20agencies/China_Media/2015_PLA_NAVY_PUB_Print_Low_Res.pdf?ver=2015-12-02-081233-733 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Studies2020" />{{Rp|page=261}}

The navy includes a 25,000 strong [[People's Liberation Army Marine Corps|Marine Corps]] (organised into seven brigades), a 26,000 strong [[People's Liberation Army Naval Air Force|Naval Aviation Force]] operating several hundred attack helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.<ref name="Studies2020" />{{Rp|pages=263–264}} As part of its overall programme of naval modernisation, the PLAN is in the stage of developing a [[blue water navy]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Farley |first=Robert |date=10 November 2021 |title=Does China Qualify as Having a True Blue Water Navy? |work=[[The National Interest]] |url=https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/does-china-qualify-having-true-blue-water-navy-195958 |access-date=10 December 2022 |archive-date=11 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240211032859/https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/does-china-qualify-having-true-blue-water-navy-195958 |url-status=live }}</ref> In November 2012, then Party General Secretary Hu Jintao reported to the CCP's [[18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party|18th National Congress]] his desire to "enhance our capacity for exploiting marine resource and build China into a strong maritime power".<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2018/07/03/china-launches-two-destroyers/|title = China launches two destroyers with tech similar to US Navy's Aegis system|date = 3 July 2018|access-date = 6 July 2018|archive-date = 15 February 2022|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220215065312/https://www.defensenews.com/global/asia-pacific/2018/07/03/china-launches-two-destroyers/|url-status = live}}</ref> According to the United States [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]], the PLAN has numerically the largest navy in the world.<ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |url=https://media.defense.gov/2021/Nov/03/2002885874/-1/-1/0/2021-CMPR-FINAL.PDF |title=Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2020 Annual Report to Congress |date=2021-07-09 |publisher=[[U.S. Department of Defense]] |language=en |access-date=13 November 2022 |archive-date=9 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220709194903/https://media.defense.gov/2021/Nov/03/2002885874/-1/-1/0/2021-CMPR-FINAL.PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> The PLAN is led by Commander [[Dong Jun]] and Political Commissar [[Yuan Huazhi]].<ref>{{cite news |date=6 September 2021 |script-title=zh:习近平今再晋升5名上将 |language=zh |work=rfi.fr |url=https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20210906-%E4%B9%A0%E8%BF%91%E5%B9%B3%E4%BB%8A%E5%86%8D%E6%99%8B%E5%8D%875%E5%90%8D%E4%B8%8A%E5%B0%86 |access-date=7 September 2021 |archive-date=7 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907020926/https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20210906-%E4%B9%A0%E8%BF%91%E5%B9%B3%E4%BB%8A%E5%86%8D%E6%99%8B%E5%8D%875%E5%90%8D%E4%B8%8A%E5%B0%86 |url-status=live }}</ref>