If that is the case, I think upgrading of shipyards must be implemented too, so that in times of trouble, they can easily mass produce ships if needed.
The ship blueprints are transferable, and people can be trained. I have no doubt that for example, 054As can be built in Dalian if they truly wanted to.
An example of this is how the 022 Houbei has become a true national project. It seems every shipyard from north to south has pounded out a few of their own.
Especially now that China is home to a large number of shipyards, if all of them can be fully utilized and maximized. China can easily establish itself to become to world's largest and most powerful Navy. "Especially during an arms race, if it happens again"
I'm not sure if China has that overwhelming desire. So far they have matched the navy's growth with their increasing power status, but don't want to reach far into superpower status yet.
Money is a key issue. You got a country that is so obsessively focused on making a buck. Making a big navy does not make a buck, it tends to eat them. In the past, the overriding reason to create global navies, like the British fleet, the French fleet, the Spanish Galleon fleet, and other occasions in the past like the Phoenician fleet, the Carthagian navy and even the navy of the Song Dynasty, was to protect and enforce the trade routes, which is important for your economy. That's how you got the ROI (Return of Investment). Zheng He didn't get the ROI wanted by the Emperor so guess what they did to his fleet.
But this global order of free trade is already being enforced and protected by the US Navy, courtesy of Uncle Sam's wallet and the Bretton Woods agreement. The biggest loser was Britain, because in the past, the British used their fleets to enforce trade monopolies that in turn created the wealth of the British Empire, while their predatory actions on other fleets, like the Spanish, caused the downfall of those empires.
So the USN, in effect, followed by other navies like NATO's, are enforcing an existing world order that initially benefited the US, but is now strongly benefiting China in the bank account. China has over 1,800 merchant ships, for example, which is the world's sixth largest. The US merchant marine only has 400 plus ships, the UK 500 plus.
The Soviet Union and its Navy happens to be the antithesis, and seeks the destruction of this Mahanian free trade order. While the SU seeks to destroy, China on the other hand has profited from this existing order, so it stands that its primary intentions are better to preserve it, rather than destroy it.
If for some reason, the USN severely shrinks, and no one is playing global naval policeman, someone has to step up to do the dirty work. The typical Chinese fashion is to let someone do the dirty work before they are forced to do it themselves.
