Chinese aircraft carrier begins sea trials

China's first aircraft carrier on Wednesday set sail for sea trials, officials said, as concerns mounted about the country's rapid military buildup amid flaring regional disputes.

The refitted former Ukrainian carrier platform left its shipyard at Dalian Port in northeast China's Liaoning Province on Wednesday morning to set sail for its maiden sea trial, Xinhua news agency reported.

The agency said that the sea trials were in line with the country's programme to rebuild the carrier. Beijing has spent almost 10 years retrofitting the Ukrainian carrier Varvag. Refitting work will continue after the vessel returns to the port, Xinhua said without specifying the duration of the sea trials.

The carrier was originally built by the former Soviet Union, which failed to complete the ship's construction before collapsing in 1991. The still-unnamed aircraft carrier was bought from Ukraine, which disarmed it and removed its engines before selling it to China.

As it set sail, the Liaoning Provincial Maritime Safety Administration publicised a notice restricting navigation in waters off the Dalian coast, saying that vessels are forbidden from travelling through an area of sea 13. 25 nautical miles wide and 22 nautical miles long in the northern Yellow Sea and Liaodong Bay from August 10 to 14.

Military enthusiasts and tourists flocked to Dalian to view the carrier before it set sail. The carrier is being launched amid escalating disputes between China and several ASEAN countries over islands in South China Sea.