China is building a second aircraft carrier – but this time made entirely from domestic technology, its defence ministry has announced.

The 50,000-tonne vessel is being built in the port of Dalian. It will not be nuclear powered, the ministry says.

China is expanding its navy amid rising tension with its neighbours in the East and South China Seas.

China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a second-hand Soviet ship built more than 25 years ago.

It was commissioned in 2012 after extensive refits.

It also comes as China steadily adds to its fleet of cutting-edge frigates, destroyers and nuclear submarines.

Increased Chinese defense expenditure in recent years has caused concern among its neighbours and the US, which is making a foreign policy “pivot” towards Asia.

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