Naval Vessels Naming Regulation
The Naval Vessels Naming Regulation is the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy's regulation for naming its vessels. The regulation was published on 18 November 1978, and updated on 10 July 1986 and in 2022.
Naming Convention
Surface Combatants
| Type | Namesakes | Examples |
| Aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships | Province-level administrative divisions | Liaoning, Sichuan |
| Destroyers | Provincial capitals, sub-provincial cities, large cities, and prefecture-level divisions associated with the party and military | Nanchang, Lhasa, Xiamen |
| Frigates | Other prefecture-level divisions and county-level divisions associated with the party and military | Zhoushan, Xianning |
| Submarine chasers, missile boats, mine warfare vessels | County-level divisions | Qufu, Liuyang |
| Amphibious warfare ships | Mountains | Kunlun Shan, Taihang Shan |
| Nuclear submarines | Changzheng followed by a serial number | Long March 21 |
| Conventional submarines | Changcheng followed by a serial number | Great Wall 346 |
Auxiliaries
| Type | Namesakes | Examples |
| Reconnaissance ships | Celestial objects | Uranus |
| Underwater acoustic monitoring ships | Rivers | N/A |
| Rescue boats, repair ships, semi-submersibles and replenishment ships | Lakes | Weishanhu, Yinmahu |
| Oceanographic survey ships, research ships | Historical [List of China|Chinese scientists|Chinese scientists] | Zhu Kezhen |
| Training ships | Historical Chinese navigators, national heroes, or nouns and phrases with symbolism | Zheng He, Qi Jiguang |
| Hospital ships | Symbolic nouns and phrases | Peace Ark |
| Other auxiliaries | The name of the operating area and function followed by a serial number | Nan-Yun 832, Dong-Bo 24 |