Article Posted on : - Dec 29, 2011

Varyag was bought from Ukraine in 1998.

BEIJING (BNS): China's aircraft carrier is undergoing scientific testing after previous successful sea trials, the Ministry of Defence has said.

MoD spokesman Yang Yujun told Chinese news agency Xinhua that the vessel is now carrying out follow-up scientific testing as planned.

The scientific research and testing will be a long process, and relevant scientific testing and training at sea will continue in the future, he added.

Yang Yujun denied a report that Russia refused to sell aircraft carrier arrester wires to China which delayed the aircraft carrier's launch.

"The main equipment for our aircraft carrier, including the arrester wires, were developed and converted on our own," he was quoted as saying.

China plans to deploy the warship by 2012 in the resource-rich South China Sea where it is involved in maritime disputes with several countries.

The first sea trial of the aircraft carrier was conducted in August 2011 and the second took place in November in the Yellow Sea, Dalian.

The carrier refitted from an imported platform called Varyag from Ukraine was originally built by the former Soviet Union. Ukraine disarmed it and removed its engines before selling it to China.

The vessel, measuring 304.5 meters long and 37 meters wide with a displacement of 58,500 metric tons, has been completely refitted for its new role as a research and training platform for China.