East Sea Fleet
Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA ground force (PLAGF). Since then it has undergone rapid modernisation. The 250,000 strong People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) is organised into three major fleets: the North Sea Fleet headquartered at Qingdao, the East Sea Fleet headquartered at Ningbo, and the South Sea Fleet headquartered in Zhanjiang. Each fleet consists of a number of surface ship, submarine, naval air force, coastal defence, and marine units.