The Chinese navy on Tuesday started a large-scale, far-reaching patrol-training mission to the South China Sea and Western Pacific Ocean.

The mission will be mainly conducted by four battleships from the South Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army navy - amphibian landing craft Jinggangshan, missile destroyer Lanzhou, missile frigates Yulin and Hengshui, and a number of aircraft, according to naval officials.

The fleet will be divided into three battle groups during several phases of the training and perform drills around waters in the South China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean.