The 60 years' history of the navy of the People's Republic of China (PRC) has witnessed both great triumph in battlefields and substantial progress in its weaponry and equipments.

Right from purchasing, repairing and imitating, the navy has now noticeably improved its capability of independently designing and manufacturing combat platforms, weaponry and equipment. As a result, the operational capability of the navy has seen a rapid rise.

In the early 1980s, the navy had considerably upgraded its weaponry and equipments, and acquired offshore operational capability. It was mature to adopt an offshore defense strategy, due to the rising strategic status of the offshore battlefields.