The aircraft carrier Liaoning (code name: 001 aircraft carrier, hull number: 16, abbreviation: Liaoning) is an aircraft carrier of the People's Liberation Army Navy that can carry fixed-wing aircraft, and is the first aircraft carrier of China to be commissioned.
The Liaoning is the successor of the Soviet Navy's Admiral Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier Varyag, which was under construction in Ukraine in the mid-to-late 1980s when the Soviet Union collapsed. Construction was halted, and the completion rate was 68 percent. In 1999, China purchased the Varyag, which arrived at Dalian port on March 4, 2002. On April 26, 2005, construction and improvement by the Chinese Navy continued. The PLA aims to modify the aircraft carrier, which has not yet been built, and use it for research, experimental and training purposes. On September 25, 2012, it was officially renamed Liaoning and delivered to the People's Liberation Army Navy.
辽宁号航空母舰（代号：001型航空母舰，舷号：16，简称：辽宁舰），是中国人民解放军海军隶下的一艘可以搭载固定翼飞机的航空母舰，也是中国第一艘服役的航空母舰。
辽宁号航空母舰前身是苏联海军的库兹涅佐夫元帅级航空母舰次舰瓦良格号，20世纪80年代中后期，瓦良格号于乌克兰建造时遭逢苏联解体，建造工程中断，完成度68%。1999年，中国购买了瓦良格号，于2002年3月4日抵达大连港。2005年4月26日，开始由中国海军继续建造改进。解放军的目标是对此艘未完成建造的航空母舰进行更改制造，及将其用于科研、实验及训练用途。2012年9月25日，正式更名辽宁号，交付予中国人民解放军海军。