A look at how China is beefing up its armed forces

While China is often mentioned as one of the economic superpowers of the 21st century, not much light is thrown on how the Asian country is vying to project its military power in the Indian Ocean region, Asia and across the world. A glimpse of a military growing rapidly in India's neighbourhood.

In this photo: The Chinese aircraft carrier Varyag is pictured during its second sea trial in the Yellow Sea, approximately 100 km (62 miles) south-southeast of the port of Dalian, in this DigitalGlobe photograph released on December 14, 2011. Reuters