China's home-made J-15 fighters successfully took off and landed on the Liaoning, the country's first aircraft carrier Sunday. This symbolizes an important step forward for Liaoning's combat capability.

Implementing carrier strategy step by step will fill the capacity China lacks to be a great power. More importantly, the development of China's high-tech equipment will contribute to the growth of its economic and national strengths.

The breakthrough in developing carrier-borne fighters shows the Liaoning is a real and capable carrier. It will add a new element to China's defense in the era of reform and opening-up. From the perspective of international politics, it is not wasteful for China, the second-biggest economy in the world, to develop carriers as insurance.

The "China threat" theory is a difficult problem to tackle, but possessing a carrier brings practical value to China's security. The reasoning for China to possess a carrier will be more understandable and acceptable in the future.

The advance of the J-15 fighters is not the end of developing carrier technology. Three steps must be carried out to ready a carrier for combat. The remaining two steps, a carrier battle group should be formed and the cooperation between the carrier and the command network needs to be realized. Only then will China's carrier truly be ready to play a practical role under the complicated international environment.

A China with a carrier projects a different impression to the outside world. But carrier won't be key to the deployment of national forces. These sea-faring juggernauts remain pricey and their cost-effectiveness still needs to be tested.

We know weapons are not the alpha and omega of warfare. Part of China's insecurity comes from having a limited defense capacity and poses a strategic dilemma as to how China can continue its development as the second-biggest economy.

China needs to be firm in developing its military strength, as this is essential to its balanced development.

China's security must be overarching, simply ensuring military security is not enough. It should also pursue the security of overseas Chinese investments, the penetration of China's soft power in other regions as well as cooperation with external forces. All these are related to China's military strength expanding.

Increasing national interests demand a more expensive national defense. However, with the number of carriers and fighters increasing, countries taking precautions against China are also multiplying and there is growing potential for confrontation. China should be wise in handling this. It should act as a leading force in the peaceful change of the global pattern.

The article is an editorial of the Chinese edition of Global Times on Monday. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn