It is way cheaper to maintain a conventional carrier than a nuclear one. Type 003 is also a vast overmatch against Japanese and South Korean carriers.It's fucking expensive as hell to keep building these, especially if you have better ones designed that can be built upon the experience of the former ones. Did you ever think how stupid it is to have have multiple aircraft carriers built, all 5 years old, all obsolete to the ones in construction? And then, did you think how useless they are in a real conflict against 5 US carriers that can 1. outmatch these initial Chinese ships in carrier-to-carrier warfare and 2. that can be sunk by ASBMs without endangering any of our carriers or sailors?