Ningbo Naval Base (East Sea Fleet)

Ningbo Naval Base, on the coast of Zhejiang province in eastern China, is the headquarters of the Eastern Theater Command Navy (ETCN), the naval component of the People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command. The ETCN commands additional bases in Fujian and on the Zhoushan archipelago, and is responsible for coastal defence along the East China Sea seaboard from Lianyungang in the north to Dongshan County in the south. The command is headed by Wang Zhongcai, with Mei Wen as political commissar.

Formations subordinate to the ETCN headquarters include the 3rd and 6th Destroyer Zhidui, the 8th Frigate Dadui, the 21st Fastboat Zhidui, the 22nd and 42nd Submarine Zhidui, and the 2nd Combat Support Zhidui. Naval aviation elements comprise the 4th and 6th Air Divisions, the 1st Flying Panther Regiment and a radar brigade.

The installation traces its origins to the East China Military Region Navy, established on 21 April 1949 by Zhang Aiping of the Third Field Army under orders from the Central Military Commission, with its first headquarters staff of thirteen and its First Flotilla formed at Zhenjiang in May of that year. Personnel and vessels defecting from the Republic of China Navy, among them Lin Zun and the ROC Second Squadron, provided much of the initial operational capability. The force was redesignated the East Sea Fleet in 1955 and reorganized into the Eastern Theater Command Navy by 2016.