PLA launches clothing line for youth to mark first locally built aircraft carrier

HONG KONG • To mark its first locally designed and built aircraft carrier, Shandong, China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy has launched a clothing line for the carrier to boost the military's popularity with young adults.

The collection includes T-shirts, jackets, parkas and basketball shorts, CNN reported. It was unveiled in a street-style photo shoot which saw sailors posing in front of the 70,000-tonne ship.

One T-shirt is imprinted with the image of a robot panda, complete with jets in its paws.

The state-run newspaper Global Times said merchandise manufacturer Glory Made designed the line as well as earlier products featuring the Shandong, including caps, computer mice and keyboards.

It added that the products were designed with a more youthful feel to attract the public's interest in naval culture.

The PLA Navy website describes wearing the apparel as a patriotic statement, the CNN report said.

"Passion is the love of the aircraft carrier cause," the website says. "It's the love of the battle position." For those serving on the Shandong, the clothing lets them show their pride by telling the world, "I am from the Shandong ship of the Chinese Navy", reads a post on the website.

According to the official merchandise shop on Taobao, the products cost from 126 yuan to 678 yuan (S$26 to S$141).

Named after a province in China's east coast, the Shandong was built in 2017 in Dalian and was formally commissioned in December 2019. Since then, it has successfully completed tasks such as carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing and the use of its weapons, the Chinese navy said, and has conducted three training voyages throughout 2020.

China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was bought in 1998 from Ukraine and refitted in China.