Australian navy's guided missile frigate HMAS Melbourne arrives in the port city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, April 21, 2019, to join multinational naval events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. The events will be held between April 22 and 25 and a naval parade will be held in Qingdao and nearby sea areas and airspace on April 23.[Photo/Xinhua]
The People's Liberation Army Navy held a gathering in Beijing on Sunday to mark the coming 70th anniversary of its founding.
The gathering, approved by the Central Military Commission, was organized to review the achievements and historical experience of the Navy and also to declare its goal of becoming a world-class force.
Ten units and 26 individuals who have made significant contributions to the Navy were honored at the ceremony attended by 1,300 military personnel.
Russian navy's guided missile frigate Admiral Gorshkov arrives in the port city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, April 21, 2019, to join multinational naval events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. [Photo/Xinhua]
A Navy statement published after the gathering said the service has been growing rapidly under President Xi Jinping's leadership.
The changes the Navy has made to itself and the accomplishments it has obtained are historic and remarkable. The Navy is unprecedentedly strong, according to the statement.
The Navy will continue to adhere to the guidance and instructions from Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission. It will accelerate its strategic transformation and maintain high standards of discipline among its members, the statement said.
Indian navy's destroyer INS Kolkata arrives in the port city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, April 21, 2019, to join multinational naval events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. [Photo/Xinhua]
The PLA Navy was founded on April 23, 1949, in the township of Baimamiao, Jiangsu province. In 1989, April 23 was designated as the Navy's foundation day.
The Navy will hold a series of multinational naval activities in Qingdao and nearby waters from Monday to Thursday to celebrate its birthday. These will include a joint sea parade, high-level symposiums, public tours of ships, military music performances and other cultural exchanges.
Naval delegations from more than 60 countries and ships from more than 10 foreign navies－including the Russian, Japanese and Indian－will take part in the events.
Brunei's warship KDB Daruttaqwa arrives in the port city of Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, April 21, 2019, to join multinational naval events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy. [Photo/Xinhua]
The Navy will send a large armada to take part in the joint sea parade, according to Vice-Admiral Qiu Yanpeng, deputy commander of the Navy.
Qiu said at a news conference in Qingdao on Saturday that the Chinese Navy will display 32 warships and 39 aircraft in the parade, including China's first aircraft carrier, the CNS Liaoning, and the newest nuclear submarines and destroyers, as well as fighter jets.
Republic of Korea frigate Gyeonggi arrives at Qingdao, East China's Shandong province, on Sunday to mark the PLA Navy's 70th anniversary. [Photo/China Daily]
"Some vessels will be making their debut," he noted.
Senior Captain Zhang Junshe, a researcher at the Naval Research Academy, said the Navy hopes to use the multinational activities to further strengthen the understanding and friendship between itself and other navies and such activities will show its openness, transparency, self-confidence and cooperative intentions.
"We hope the events will help to build closer ties between us and our foreign counterparts and also pave a solid foundation for our future cooperation to safeguard maritime security," he said.
