People's Liberation Army Navy

People's Liberation Army Navy
People's Liberation Army Navy
	Emblem of the People's Liberation Army Navy
Founded	23 April 1949
Country	China
Allegiance	Chinese Communist Party
Type	Navy
Role	Naval warfare
Size	384,000 active personnel (2025); 787 ships (2025); 600 aircraft (2025);
Part of	People's Liberation Army
March	人民海军向前进; ("The People's Navy Marches Forward")
Anniversaries	23 April annually
Fleet	64+ submarines; 3 aircraft carriers; 4 amphibious assault ships; 8 amphibious transport docks; 33 landing ship tanks; 37 landing ship mediums; 61 destroyers; 54 frigates; 50 corvettes; 82 missile boats; 40+ mine countermeasure vessels; 232 auxiliaries including 18 replenishment ships;
Engagements	Chinese Civil War; Vietnam War; Sino-Vietnamese War; Johnson South Reef Skirmish; Anti-piracy operations in Somalia; Red Sea crisis;
Commanders
Commander	Admiral Hu Zhongming
Political Commissar	Vacant
Chief of Staff	Admiral Zhang Zheng
Insignia
Flag and ensign
Jack
Badge
Sleeve badge
Aircraft flown
Electronic; warfare	Y-8
Fighter	J-11, J-15, J-35
Helicopter	Z-8, Z-9, Z-20, Mi-8, Z-10, Ka-28, AS365
Interceptor	J-7, J-8
Patrol	Y-8, Y-9
Reconnaissance	Y-9
Trainer	JL-8, JL-9, JL-10
Transport	Y-7, Y-9
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	中国人民解放军海军
Traditional Chinese	中國人民解放軍海軍
Literal meaning	China People Liberation Army Sea Army
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōngguó Rénmín Jiěfàngjūn Hǎijūn
People's Navy
Simplified Chinese	人民海军
Traditional Chinese	人民海軍
Literal meaning	People Navy
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Rénmín Hǎijūn
Chinese Navy
Simplified Chinese	中国海军
Traditional Chinese	中國海軍
Literal meaning	China Navy
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Zhōngguó Hǎijūn

The People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), also known as PLA Navy or Chinese Navy, is the maritime service branch of the People's Liberation Army. The world's largest navy by number of vessels, it maintains more than 700 warships and support vessels as of 2024. Composed of the Surface Force, the Submarine Force, the Coastal Defense Force, the Marine Corps and the Naval Air Force, the PLAN has a total strength of 384,000 personnel, including 55,000 marines and 50,000 naval aviation personnel. PLAN units are deployed among the North Sea, East Sea and South Sea fleets, under the Northern, Eastern and Southern PLA theater commands, respectively.

The PLAN was formally established on 23 April 1949 and traces its lineage to maritime fighting units during the Chinese Civil War, including many elements of the Republic of China Navy which had defected. Until the late 1980s, the PLAN was largely a brown-water navy mostly in charge of coastal defense and patrol against potential Nationalist amphibious invasions and territorial waters disputes, roles now largely relegated to the China Coast Guard. The collapse of the Soviet Union ended a tense border confrontation, and China shifted towards more forward-oriented foreign policy in the 1990s. This included renewed attention to the PLAN, moving toward a green-water navy operating in the marginal seas within the range of coastal air parity.

In the 21st century, the PLAN has modernized, transitioning to a blue-water navy, aiming to operate up to the Pacific's second island chain. China operates 68 submarines, a similar number to the United States Navy, and of which 12 are nuclear-powered. China has commissioned three aircraft carriers since 2012; its latest, the Fujian, is its first indigenously designed and CATOBAR-capable carrier. The PLAN's Type 094 submarines are assigned 72 warheads on JL-3 ballistic missiles, representing 12% of China's nuclear stockpile.