April 23 marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army Navy. Initially a small unit based in Baimamiao, a township in coastal Jiangsu province, the force has become a pillar of China's national defense and plays an indispensible role in the global effort to safeguard peace, stability and prosperity on the world's oceans.

PLA Navy Fleet Headquarters

The Navy consists of the naval headquarters in Beijing and three fleet commands: the North Sea Fleet, based in Qingdao, Shandong province; the East Sea Fleet, based in Ningbo, Zhejiang province; and the South Sea Fleet, based in Zhanjiang, Guangdong province. Navy headquarters, which controls the three fleet commands, is subordinate to the Central Military Commission.

Jan 8, 1949

A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee in Xibaipo, Hebei province, decides to establish a navy capable of safeguarding the nation's rivers, coastal waters and shorelines by the end of 1950.