On Monday, March 9, 2026, the official Chinese news service China Military Online reported that the Navy of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLAN) had commissioned two additional Type 055 guided-missile destroyers (NATO designation: Renhai), bringing their total number to ten within six years of the first vessel entering service. These are the largest Chinese warships of this class ever built.
CNS Lhasa (102) during exercises in early June 2025 / Photo: Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China
According to the latest information, also confirmed by Chinese state television CCTV, the ninth and tenth guided-missile destroyers, CNS Dongguan (109) and CNS Anqing (110), have entered operational service with the East Sea Fleet.
This brings the number of ships of this type to ten:
- CNS Nanchang (101) – in service with the North Sea Fleet since January 20, 2020;
- CNS Lhasa (102) – in service with the North Sea Fleet since March 2, 2021;
- CNS Dalian (105) – in service with the South Sea Fleet since April 23, 2021;
- CNS Anshan (103) – in service with the North Sea Fleet since September 11, 2021;
- CNS Yan’an (106) – in service with the South Sea Fleet since February 2022;
- CNS Wuxi (104) – in service with the North Sea Fleet since March 2022;
- CNS Zunyi (107) – in service with the South Sea Fleet since November 2022;
- CNS Xianyang (108) – in service with the South Sea Fleet since December 2022;
- CNS Dongguan (109) – in service with the East Sea Fleet since March 2026;
- CNS Anqing (110) – in service with the East Sea Fleet since March 2026.
It can be noted that between January 2020 and December 2022 the ships were commissioned at a high rate, followed by a pause of just over three years. The vessels are built at the Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Changxingdao in Shanghai and the DSIC Dalian Shipyard in Liaoning.
A model of the Type 055 guided-missile destroyer (NATO designation: Renhai) was revealed in April 2014, and steel cutting for the prototype began the same year.
Type 055 destroyers measure 180 m in length, 20 m in beam, and have a draft of 6.6 m. Their standard displacement is about 11,023 tons and up to around 13,000 tons at full load. The crew numbers at least 300 officers and sailors. Four QC-280 gas turbines (each rated at 28 MW) in a COGAG configuration provide an output of 150,000 hp (112 MW), supported by six 5 MW turbogenerators (6,700 hp each), totaling 30 MW (40,000 hp). This allows a maximum speed of 32 knots (59 km/h) and a range of 7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km).
The ships are equipped with four fixed-panel H/LJG-346B radars with active electronically scanned array (AESA) antennas operating in the X-band, mounted in the main superstructure. The integrated mast contains Type 346B Dragon Eye AESA radars operating in the C and S bands. Type 726-4 decoy launchers are also installed.
The armament of the Type 055 includes a single 130 mm H/PJ-45 naval automatic gun, two Type 1130 (H/PJ-11) 30 mm close-in weapon systems, two 25 mm automatic cannons, and 24 FL-3000N short-range surface-to-air missile launchers (the naval variant of the HHQ-18 system equipped with TY-90 missiles). In addition, the ships feature 112 vertical launch system (VLS) cells – 64 forward and 48 aft – based on the GJB 5860-2006 standard modeled after the U.S. Mk 41 VLS. These can accommodate an unspecified number of DK-10A short-range and HHQ-9 long-range surface-to-air missiles, YJ-18A and CJ-10 land-attack cruise missiles, YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles with hypersonic warheads, YJ-83 anti-ship missiles, and TU8 anti-submarine rocket torpedoes for two 324 mm torpedo launcher blocks. The ships can carry two multi-role naval helicopters – Harbin Z-9C, Changhe Z-18F, or Harbin Z-20 – in the aft aviation hangar.