It can be stated clearly that this is not a flight-deck model that HUST (Huazhong University of Science and Technology) put together on its own. In fact, HUST, the 701 Institute and the Navy have all taken part, and it can be viewed as a research outcome for next-generation carrier deck layout/flight-operations scheduling.
Thanks to the island being moved much further aft compared with the 003, the distance from the front edge of the island base to the outer overhang of the deck on this model exceeds 110 m, even greater than on a Nimitz (100–106 m), while the distance from the aft edge of the island base to the end of the flight deck has been reduced to under 86 m.
It is still impossible to say whether this model will actually be adopted, but shifting the island further aft is certain to be a key design feature of the next-generation carrier — something that can already be clearly seen from the refit of the carrier mock-up building.