Published on : 23/08/2024
On August 23, 2001, the Chinese Navy made its first visit to the European continent.
At 9 in the morning, Shenzhen (深圳號), a modernised warship missile destroyer independently designed and manufactured by China, slowly left the Wusong Military Port (吳淞軍港) in Shanghai with the integrated supply ship Fengcang (豐倉號).
Accepting an invitation to visit Germany, UK, France, and Italy in Europe, it embarked on an 86-day friendly journey.
This trip set many new records for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), being the most extensive, largest scale, and longest-distance military diplomacy activity to date.
It is also the most visited journey by sea routes, straits, and coastal countries, signifying that PLA's footprint has covered the three major oceans and five continents worldwide.
The fleet went west from the Pacific Ocean, crossing the Indian Ocean, and sailed into the Red Sea for the first time; it passed the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal, entered the Atlantic Ocean, and finally arrived at the European continent—the total route equivalent to a round journey along the earth's equator, covering more than 23,000 nautical miles.
