The photo released by Xinhua News Agency on Wednesday shows the refurbished Soviet aircraft carrier which the Defense Ministry said will be used for research and training. [Xinhua]
Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said the jump jet carrier is ready for it maiden voyage from the northeastern port of Dalian.
The pursuit of an aircraft carrier program would not change the navy's strategy of inshore defense, he said at a news briefing in Beijing.
Ynagsheng did not specify who would be named the Varyag's commander. The official China Defense Newspaper earlier quoted media reports as saying it would be either Li Xiaoyan or Bai Yaoping, who were widely seen as top candidates for the post.
The article on Monday referred to the carrier as "China's first aircraft carrier training vessel, Shilang". Shi Lang was a 17th century admiral who reclaimed Taiwan for the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
Xinhua News Agency, though, said on Wednesday that the warship is still unnamed. it was called the Varyag when it was part of the Soviet fleet.
The ship which was incomplete when the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, was bought for $20 million in 1998.
The Ukraine disarmed it and removed its engines before selling the craft to China. The vessel, delivered in 2002, has been undergoing refitting work at Dalian since 2005.
China is the last permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to get an aircraft carrier. Among the other four, the US boasts 11 and the UK, France and Russia each has one in operation.
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