China promises more aircraft carriers in near future to meet defence needs

China has announced that it will consider developing more aircraft carriers to fulfill its defense requirements in the near future.

A Defense Ministry spokesman, Colonel Yang Yujun, was quoted by the China Daily as saying there will be more aircraft carriers in the future depending on the nation's naval strategy.

Earlier, there were media reports that China was domestically developing an aircraft carrier for the first time.

The Chinese navy had commissioned the Liaoning, which is a retrofitted former Soviet Union carrier, in the People's Liberation Army on September 25, 2012.

The navy has since then been developing it's main strike force by conducting takeoff and landing tests of J-15 fighters from the Liaoning.

A senior researcher of the PLA Academy of Military Sciences, Wen Bing, said China was still exploring ways to effectively develop and use its carrier battle group to empower its navy, so it was too early to predict the number of carriers in the future.