Chinese carriers pictured side by side as speculation grows Fujian set to enter service

Country’s most advanced carrier was pictured next to the older Shandong in Hainan after completing what may be its final set of sea trials

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The Shandong in the foreground is berthed next to the Fujian at a base in Sanya, Hainan province. Photo: X/ RupprechtDeino

Published: 8:30pm, 2 Oct 2025Updated: 9:34pm, 2 Oct 2025

China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has been pictured at a naval base on the southern island of Hainan for the first time, suggesting it is a step closer to entering service.

Satellite images taken on Wednesday and shared on social media showed the Fujian and the older Shandong carrier berthed side by side at Yulin Naval Base in Sanya. It was the first time the two carriers had been seen together at the same pier.

Additional images indicated that four tugboats had escorted the Fujian as it entered the harbour.

“By mid-afternoon, the Fujian was berthed opposite the Shandong aircraft carrier,” Joaquin Camarena, a former US Marine Corps intelligence analyst, wrote on social media.

Camarena had posted a video the previous day suggesting the vessel was returning to Sanya’s comprehensive support base after trials off the coast of Hainan.

The ship’s earlier trials were confined to the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, but this latest deployment from the Shanghai shipyard where it was built marked the first time it had sailed south for trials.

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