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Map Shows Chinese Navy Fleet’s 300-Day Mission to Three Continents
A three-ship fleet of the Chinese navy returned home on Friday from a 339-day deployment, which saw it conduct escort missions, port visits and exercises on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment by email.
Why It Matters
The 46th Chinese naval escort task force is China’s anti-piracy effort in the Gulf of Aden and the waters off Somalia. The first task force was sent in 2008, which marked the first Chinese naval mission outside the Western Pacific Ocean, the Pentagon said in its annual report to Congress on Chinese military and security developments.
The Pentagon’s report said China’s navy has expanded its reach and presence far from the nation’s shores as its ships visited countries in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the South Pacific Ocean last year.
What To Know
The Chinese destroyer CNS Jiaozuo, frigate CNS Xuchang and replenishment ship CNS Honghu arrived at a naval port in the coastal city of Zhanjiang, in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong, following the completion of the 46th naval escort task force deployment.
The mission, which commenced on February 21, 2024, saw the fleet transit over 160,000 nautical miles as its vessels carried out ship escorting duties to protect the security of international maritime trade routes, China’s Xinhua News Agency reported.
The Chinese mission came as Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched attacks on foreign vessels in the Red Sea, an important shipping route, since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023. The United States and its Western allies have sent their navies to protect shipping in the strategic waterway.
In addition to escorting ships, the Chinese naval task force visited St. Petersburg in Russia in July last year, as well as taking part in a maritime exercise in Nigeria and a navy festival in South Africa, Newsweek‘s map shows.
The Chinese ships also visited Egypt and made stops in Morocco and the Seychelles. According to Newsweek‘s map, the Chinese navy left its footprint in the Baltic Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean during the mission.
The turnover for most of China’s naval escort task forces used to be around four months, Australia-based naval analyst Alex Luck told Newsweek. However, the previous 45th task force lasted nearly six months, which, like the 46th, was at the high end of the anti-piracy deployment cycles, he said.
While speculation remains on why the latest deployments have been longer, Luck believes that China is making more use of naval vessels for activities apart from escort missions, “but at the same time does not wish to allocate more vessels to balance such tasking.”

Alexei Danichev/Sputnik via AP
What People Are Saying
Xu Fuxiang, a member of the 46th Chinese naval escort task force, told China Global Television Network: “During the mission, we carefully planned the escort schedule, strictly organized the escort operations and safely escorted dozens of Chinese and foreign ships to safe areas. We often received sincere praise.”
The Pentagon said in its report on Chinese military power: “This naval activity [escort task force] demonstrates the PLAN [People’s Liberation Army Navy]’s increasing familiarity with the area, hones its ability to operate in far seas, and enables the PLAN to advance military diplomacy efforts by conducting port calls in Africa and the Middle East.”
Alex Luck, Australia-based naval analyst, told Newsweek: “The real bottleneck is…the relatively limited pool of replenishment ships. Each anti-piracy group includes a Type 903 or Type 903A AOR [Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment vessel]. The PLAN currently only has nine of these ships and frequently deploys several of them at the same time to different exercises both abroad and near home waters.”
What Happens Next
The Chinese military, which has the largest navy in the world by hull count with more than 370 ships and submarines, is likely to continue the escort mission as part of its efforts to expand its global footprint, which is aimed at challenging America’s naval dominance.
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