The 31st fleet of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) returned to Zhanjiang City of south China's Guangdong Province on Friday after completing more than seven months of escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and waters off Somalia.
Composed of a landing vessel, a missile frigate and a supply ship, the fleet carried more than 700 naval officers and soldiers and three helicopters.
The fleet set sail from a port in Zhanjiang on December 9, 2018 and has since completed 46 humanitarian missions.
The fleet also dispatched a frigate to take part in the multinational naval exercises coded "Peace-19" in February.
During the mission, the fleet sailed the Indian and Pacific oceans, and crossed nine time zones and four climatic zones, covering nearly 110,000 nautical miles.
Since 2008, the Chinese Navy has sent 31 batches of escort fleets to the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters for escort missions, including 100 naval ships, 67 helicopters and over 26,000 naval officers and soldiers.
