First domestically-built carrier launching from Dalian dock

China launched its first domestically-built aircraft carrier Wednesday morning in Dalian shipyard in northeast Liaoning Province.

China's second aircraft carrier is transferred from dry dock into the water at a launch ceremony in Dalian shipyard of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning Province, April 26, 2017. The new carrier, the first domestically-built one, came after the Liaoning, a refitted former Soviet Union-made carrier that was put into commission in the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army in 2012. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

The Type 001A carrier, the first to be built at home, was transferred from dry dock into water at a launch ceremony in the shipyard of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. Designing the vessel started in November 2013 and in-dock construction began in March 2015.

China's Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission Fan Chang-long attended the ceremony.