Advanced destroyers boost combat capability

The Chinese Navy has commissioned three world-class guided missile destroyers, extensively improving the country's maritime combat capability.

The latest of the Type 052D destroyers, the Hefei, was delivered to the South Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy on Saturday at a naval base in Sanya, in the island province of Hainan, the PLA Navy said in a statement.

Vice-Admiral Wang Dengping, deputy political commissar of the PLA Navy, told those attending the ship's commissioning ceremony that the Hefei is the most advanced destroyer ever built by China. He said its service would significantly enhance the Navy's joint combat capability and play an important role in safeguarding the nation's maritime interests.