China has just signed a contract for its largest patrol ship (424 foot, 5,418 ton) and they expect it to be delivered in July 2012 (note that is less than two years away–and I don’t expect they will build just one).
Thanks to http://combatfleetoftheworld.blogspot.com/ for the heads up.
Chuck Hill's CG Blog 
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Chuck,
From the article,
“Aside from rescue missions, the vessel will be able to tow ships as well as put out fires on other boats.
Haixun 01 has a maximum sailing distance of 10,000 nautical miles (18,520 km) without refueling.
China at present has two 3,000-tonnage patrol vessels, Haixun 11 and Haixun 31, and a 1,500-tonnage patrol vessel Haixun 21,to undertake maritime inspection, salvage and maritime traffic management in the country’s coastal waters.”
It looks like the Chinese read more U. S. Coast Guard history than those in the U. S. Coast Guard.
Chuck, Bill,
I’m not sure how familiar you are with China’s civil maritime structure, those organizations US Coast Guard like missions. China’s civil maritime organization consists of the Maritime Safety Administration, China Rescue and Salvage, Maritime Recsue Coordination Center, Department of Water Transport, China Coast Guard, Fisheries Law Enforcement Command, I’m not sure how familiar you are with China’s civil maritime structure, those organizations US Coast Guard like missions. China’s civil maritime organization consists of the Maritime Safety Administration, China Rescue and Salvage, Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, Department of Water Transport, China Coast Guard, Fisheries Law Enforcement Command, China Maritime Surveillance, Polar Research Institute of China and to some extent China Classification Society. Some people who write about China’s civil maritime capabilities like to also include China Customs. I am inclined to disagree, in my two and a half years here in China as the U.S. Coast Guard Civil Maritime Liaison to China I have not talked to anyone who could confirm nor have I seen an operational China Customs vessel.
There is no doubt that China’s civil maritime sector is growing. The aforementioned agencies intend to add 30 new vessels to their inventory over the next 5 years. I’ve seen a handful of new assets from high-speed coastal interceptors to 3,000 ton cutters added to the inventory during the short time I have been in Beijing. I have talked to the heads of numerous civil maritime agencies about their growing operational demands, their capability shortfalls and the desired asset acquisitions to meet those demands. It appears to me that the referenced article speaks to the Maritime Safety Administration asset mix, the largest but by far not the only civil maritime agency in China. China is a significant growing maritime nation and the U.S. Coast Guard is here building a positive, cooperative, comprehensive relationship.
Nice to hear from a source with first hand knowledge, thanks for your comment. I’ve read and posted a bit about the Chinese counterparts of the Coast Guard.
http://cgblog.org/2010/12/06/china-building-six-major-cutters-a-year-how-many-are-enough/
http://cgblog.org/2010/09/17/japanese-coast-guard-at-center-of-sino-japanese-dispute/
http://cgblog.org/2010/08/21/chinas-coast-guards/
I still find their organization a bit confusing. Looks like there are a large number of separate bureaucracies that are narrowly “stove piped.” so that unless there is a lot of informal organization, they would be less efficient than our “multi-mission” organization.
Also have not heard much about their use of fixed wing aircraft for surveillance, any impressions?
Are they doing anything innovative we might learn from?
I thought it was interesting while visiting one of the large and modern China Maritime Safety Administration cutters in Shanghai to see their strengthening level of commitment to the marine safety field. The vessel in this article would be considered a “M” vessel in a USCG sense as it will be staffed by civilians and performs non-military “M” missions like inspections, SAR, and hydrographic surveys. In the Chinese “M” world, their people can get under way to conduct missions and don’t all go home after lunch (or whatever the joke is in the USCG).
Studying the Chinese ‘Coast Guard’ it really shows how difficult it is to build a comprehensive multi-mission marine agency. Even the USCG tends to get only peripherally involved in things like fisheries enforcement, migrant interdiction, dive operations, vessel traffic control, nautical charts, etc.