China is building two large coastguard ships with displacements estimated to be 10,000 tonnes, Chinese military news websites reported on 13 October.
The ships are under construction at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai and will be by far the largest coastguard vessels to enter Chinese service. The largest vessels currently in service are search-and-rescue vessels that displace around 4,000 tonnes, although plans are under way for a 5,000-tonne class.
The ships will be operated by the China Coast Guard (CCG), which was formed in March 2013 by amalgamating a number of maritime agencies. CCG ships are usually unarmed, but recent new additions to the fleet have been equipped with very large water cannon that appear to be able to cause serious damage to other vessels.