BEIJING - A top military official on Monday confirmed for the first time in public that China is building an aircraft carrier.

"I have nothing more to say about Chinese aircraft carriers, since prominent media outlets have already reported on them so much," said Chen Bingde, chief of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff. "Our American friends all know that China bought an old aircraft carrier, the Varyag, from Ukraine. It's very valuable for us to research these things this way."

China is the last permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to get an aircraft carrier. Before acquiring Varyag, the country had bought three decommissioned aircraft carriers for the purpose of studying them. Two of them, the former Russian carriers Minsk and Kiev, have been turned into theme parks.