China Maritime Studies Institute – While construction of the Type 039A submarine was underway, the Chinese Navy, guided by anticipated technological developments in future conventional submarines, its own operational requirements, and the potential threats it faced, initiated research/development and improvement efforts for a new generation of submarine technologies. By around 2010, several key technologies and systems required for these new submarines had achieved breakthroughs or completed development, clearing the obstacles for commencing construction of the new Type 039B. At the same time, this marked the beginning of the large‑scale production of the Chinese Navy’s core conventional submarine force for the 2020s.