China intention is not match US ship to ship nor it want to operate all over the world. its main focus are ScS and 1st island chain, then 2nd island chain. hence it can focus all its force near asia for the next decade or 2, near their home base. it can continue to train its sailor in peace time and learn from others. There aren't any advance navy vs advance navy in recent history, hence no combat exp to speak of. The thing china lack is carrier exp and its battle group operation for now, which are new to them.
Another hidden intention is guarding the traffic of Indian ocean. large amounts of imported engergy and export to mid east and EU rely on Indian ocean. In coming decades, we will see more existence of PLAN fleets and naval bases apear in the region. Plus the DF26 is designed for the target of crucial objects in Indian ocean, China will have enough ability for securing the supply chain in this area.
And it already started:
Good news from the Indian Ocean! "Xiangyanghong 01" scientific research ship made two major achievements
baijiahao.baidu.com
I believe they are preparing the map for subs...
Plus, China's defense budget this year has increased by 6.8% to 1,355.343 billion yuan! Around $USD200 billion.
According to the government budget report released by the Ministry of Finance at the National People's Congress today (5th), this year's defense expenditure is 1,355.343 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8% over 2020.
Since the growth of military expenditures is calculated in nominal RMB, China's nominal GDP growth of GDP this year is estimated to exceed 10%, so the proportion of military expenditures will not increase.
It is estimated that the proportion of China's military expenditure is around 1.3% of GDP. This ratio is very comfortable. In NATO, the proportion of military expenditure will be too low to take advantage. This has caused the Americans and Japanese to start panting; because we are a regional defense, the Americans are attacking globally.
Given another five years, the tonnage of the Chinese fleet is estimated to be close to that of the United States, and even more than the comprehensive strength of the United States, Japan and South Korea in East Asia.