The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command releases a music video on its official Weibo account to celebrate the New Year on January 1, 2025. A scene in the video shows a ginkgo leaf and a bird, triggering netizens' associations to the alleged debuts of China's sixth-generation fighter jets that have been circulating on social media since December 26, 2024. Photo: Screenshot from the official Weibo account of the PLA Eastern Theater Command

 
The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command on Wednesday released a music video to celebrate the New Year, with a scene showing a ginkgo leaf and a bird triggering netizens' associations to the alleged debuts of China's sixth-generation fighter jets that have been circulating on social media recently.

A number of videos and photos emerged on Chinese social media on December 26, showing alleged test flights of a new type of aircraft, shape of which resembles the ginkgo leaf. The term "ginkgo leaf" was first used by Chengdu-based Defense Times as an apparent metaphor for the new aircraft given their resemblance in appearance. 

"It really looks like a leaf," the South China Morning Post reported on Friday, citing Defense Times' post on its Weibo account alongside an image of a ginkgo leaf.

Neither the Chinese military nor the Chinese defense industry has verified the videos and photos, or made any official announcement on the aircraft as of press time.

Shortly after the emergence of the large "ginkgo leaf" aircraft, another video circulated online on December 26, showing another new type of aircraft, seemingly smaller than the "ginkgo leaf" one, in an apparent flight test. 

Since then, Chinese netizens and some overseas media outlets have been engaging in heated discussions about the two new aircraft. 

Reuters reported on Friday that the two seemingly new Chinese military aircraft have stealth characteristics. Both designs are tailless, meaning they do not have vertical stabilizers to help maintain control. Such aircraft are typically kept stable by computers that interpret the pilot's control inputs.

The larger of the two designs is roughly diamond-shaped, with three air intakes for its engines - two alongside the fuselage and one on top. The smaller one has a more conventional layout, but no tail. Both lack the 90-degree angles typical of stealth shaping, which is designed to reduce radar detection, Reuters said.

According to US media outlet the Warzone, which cited unconfirmed accounts, the larger aircraft is from the Chengdu Aircraft Corporation, while the smaller aircraft is from the Shenyang Aircraft Corporation. Chengdu builds the J-10 multirole medium fighter and the heavy J-20 stealth fighter, while Shenyang is responsible for the production of fighters such as carrier-borne J-15, heavy J-16 and stealth-capable J-35.

The Washington Times quoted defense analysts as saying that the two new fighters "appear to be Beijing's first advanced sixth-generation stealth fighters."

Despite the new Chinese aircraft garnering attentions overseas, not all mainstream large Western media outlets have covered them. The Washington Times noted that the Pentagon has remained quiet, with Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh saying on Monday that she had seen the news reports but declined to comment on the flight tests.

Reuters quoted an analyst as saying that as China modernizes its military, the designs "show the willingness of China's aviation industry to experiment and innovate." The analyst said, "They deserve kudos for that, and should shake off any lingering complacency that the US and its allies always set the pace."

The US is also developing its sixth-generation fighter jet. However, the US Air Force has decided to let the incoming Trump administration make its own decision on the path forward for its Next Generation Air Dominance fighter. This summer, the US Air Force paused its effort to develop and build a sixth-generation fighter amid concerns about its potential costs, US media outlet the Defense News reported on December 6.

The UK, Italy and Japan are also jointly developing an advanced stealth jet, meanwhile France, Germany and Spain are working on their own next-generation fighter project, Reuters reported on December 13.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the so-called sixth-generation fighter jet has become a key vantage point major powers have been contesting to reach.

In the past, it was usually the US that first developed and defined generations for aircraft, but the US' sixth-generation fighter jet has been stalled given huge risks in costs against the backdrop of the US' deindustrialization and its breaking of industrial chains, Fu noted.

Song Zhongping, another Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday that China's development of new aircraft, believed to be sixth-generation fighter jets - faster than the US, will buy China more precious time for its peaceful and stable economic development.

The US will likely accelerate its own projects, as it will not resign itself to losing technological hegemony. But China will continue to develop its national defense capabilities at its own pace, with the aim of safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, Song said.

On this aspect, both Fu and Song mentioned another recent milestone of China's military development, the launch of the world's first electromagnetic catapult-equipped amphibious assault ship, the Type 076 Sichuan on Friday.

Fu said that the concentrated debuts of China's military equipment is not a coincidence. It took China years of development at its own stable pace, and it is now that the country's weapon and equipment systems have reached a new level.