At the beginning of 2017, the People’s Liberation Army underwent big personnel changes that surprised outside observers. First, the Chinese Navy commanders of all the three major fleets have been replaced. Then, for the first time, the commander-in-chief of the combat region was promoted from the Navy. This series of personnel changes sends two signals: First, China’s southern combat region, that is, the South China Sea, will become the main strategic focus. Second, one of the objectives of the 2017 military reform is to highlight three-dimensional warfare.
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On December 2 and 3, 2016, the Central Military Commission held a conference in Beijing on reforming the structure and strength of the army. Following the conference, Liu Yazhou, General of the Chinese Air Force, published an article discussing the pressing need for Chinese military reform.
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Global Times recently reported that Shen Jinlong was mentioned in Chinese Naval News as the Navy Commander. This means Wu Shengli is no longer the Navy Commander and Shen Jinlong was promoted to this position very recently. Shen was previously the Commander of the South China Sea Fleet. Other than some of China’s military founding generals, Shen is the first one promoted to Navy Commander directly from the position of fleet commander. Shen never had any experience in the Chinese military’s central command. However, Shen has been commanding the South China Sea Fleet during the period when the South China Sea has been the most heated region for potential conflicts among many countries. Shen also commanded the Joint Exercise of the three major fleets in July last year. Shen’s South Fleet confronted the United States Navy three times before and, not long ago, managed the incident of capturing the U.S. unmanned vessel. He was also the commander of the Chinese Fleet that participated in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise (RIMPAC) that the United States led in Hawaii in 2014. That Fleet visited the U.S. San Diego Naval Base afterwards. Shen served as the president the Naval Academy of Commanding between 2011 and 2014. The Academy is the top academy of the Chinese Navy.

Source: Global Times, January 20, 2017
http://china.huanqiu.com/article/2017-01/9991804.html

Well-known Hong Kong pro-mainland TV station and news site Phoenix New Media recently reported on some leaked information on China’s “Project 048,” which is China’s roadmap plan for developing its aircraft carriers. The project was finalized in August of 2004; hence the name “048.” According to the leaked roadmap, the carrier building plan consists of three phases. Phase one is to build two mid-sized carriers within 10 years; phase two is to build two large scale carriers in the next 10 years; phase three involves building large nuclear-powered carriers. The ultimate goal is to have 10 carriers by the year 2049. A model “001A” carrier is almost completed and will soon be launched in the city of Dalian. The building process on the Model “002” carriers started in 2015. They are large scale ships still using conventional power and a catapult take-off. Model “003” carriers aim to be the equivalent of the U.S. nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carriers. According to Project 048, China is improving its steam catapult so that it is one third more efficient than the U.S. equivalent. It is estimated that the Chinese Model “003” nuclear carrier will have electromagnetic catapult take-off capabilities on the same level as the U.S. Ford-class, and will launch in the year 2030. At the current pace of parallel design and building of multiple models, the year 2030 target should be reached three years earlier.

Source: Phoenix New Media, January 17, 2017
http://news.ifeng.com/a/20170117/50587137_0.shtml