China's first aircraft carrier "Liaoning" was commissioned into the Chinese navy last September and officially anchored in a military port this February.

 

　　Ding Lulu has more.

 

　　Crew members stand near a fighter jet on China's first aircraft carrier 'Liaoning' in this undated photo. [File Photo: cn.apdnews.com]

 

　　26 year-old Zhang Rui, a female soldier, is one of the few female crew members on the aircraft carrier.

 

　　"Since we are the first female sailors on Liaoning, the future presence of female soldiers on Chinese aircraft carriers depends on us. Everything we were doing was a matter of trial and error, so were required to be on guard all the time and to be particularly responsible at work."

 

　　Zhang Rui and her colleagues prepared for the commissioning of "Liaoning" for four years.

 

　　In 2009 the Chinese army, for the first time, recruited female soldiers from colleges.

 

　　Zhang Rui just applied as a college student to become one of the first female sailors on "Liaoning".

 

　　Mei Wen, the political commissar of "Liaoning", says there is a strict selection and training process for the ship's crew.

 

　　"We went through a very careful and strict process to select sailors from the Chinese Navy. However, we do not just leave it there after the selection."

 

　　Zhang Zheng, captain of "Liaoning", further elaborates.

 

　　"The first stage of the training is focused on building up the soldier's basic abilities and general skills. The second stage develops independent operation of equipments, and the third professionalism and expertise. All of the ship's crew need to pass these three stages; each stage of training weeds out those who can not pass."

 

　　Some 80-thousand people have taken part in various training courses related to the operation of the aircraft carrier before its crew was finally unveiled last September.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Ding Lulu.