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People's Liberation Army Navy sailors stand at attention during a visit by Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughead aboard the People's Liberation Army Navy type 920 hospital ship Daishandao

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN or PLA Navy) is the naval branch of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the military of the People’s Republic of China. Until the early 1990s, the navy performed a subordinate role to the PLA Land Forces. Since then, it has undergone rapid modernisation. With a personnel strength of over 250,000, the PLAN also includes the 35,000 strong Coastal Defence Force and the 56,000 man Naval infantry/Marines, plus a 56,000 PLAN Aviation naval air arm operating several hundred land-based aircraft and ship-based helicopters.

The Great Wall at Sea: China's Navy Enters the Twenty-First Century by Bernard Cole published by US Naval Institute Press, 2001

China's Naval Power by Srikanth Kondapall published by Knowledge World, 2001

The Chinese Steam Navy, 1862-1945 by Richard Wright published by Chatham, 2000

China Goes to Sea: Maritime Transformation in Comparative Historical Perspective by Andrew Erickson published by Naval Institute Press, 2009