The picture shows the aircraft carrier Liaoning (Hull 16) and other vessels and fighter jets in the maritime parade conducted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in the South China Sea on the morning of April 12, 2018.Photo:China Military

Ongoing regular maintenance for China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, has entered the final stages as the ship has recently exited dry dock, with analysts saying on Wednesday that the carrier is expected to return to active service within the year with enhanced combat capabilities.

Docked by a pier at the Dalian Shipyard in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, the namesake carrier recently started repainting its flight deck and installing related equipment, as its maintenance entered the final stages, news website wenweipo.com reported on Tuesday.

After finishing the painting of the flight deck, a process that will likely take a month or so, the carrier is expected to start its engines and take a test voyage, the report said.

The maintenance and refurbishment of the aircraft carrier Liaoning has lasted for more than seven months since it returned to the Dalian Shipyard on February 28. 

After completing about half a year's maintenance within the dry dock, the ship exited the dock shortly before the start of October looking anew, with reinstalled vessel-borne weapons and radar systems, wenweipo.com reported.

No major appearance changes to the carrier were observed, the report said.

The Liaoning, formerly the Soviet Varyag, was commissioned into the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in 2012 as China's first aircraft carrier. It underwent its first regular maintenance in the Dalian Shipyard in 2018.

Over the past few years, the Liaoning carrier group has conducted a number of far sea exercises in the West Pacific beyond the first island chain, hosting aircraft sorties among other training in waters to the east of the island of Taiwan and near Guam, an island in the second island chain militarized by the US to contain China.

After the current maintenance, the Liaoning will likely return to its duties this year, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Wednesday.

It will rotate with the country's second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, in far sea exercises and combat alert missions to boost the PLA Navy's carrier operation capabilities and safeguard national sovereignty, territorial integrity and development interests, the expert said.

China launched its third aircraft carrier, the electromagnetic catapults-equipped Fujian, in June 2022, and experts expect the new and more powerful carrier to hold its maiden test voyage within 2023.