China News Service says the former Soviet carrier completed the five-day trials and returned to the northeastern port of Dalian on Sunday.

Vessels had been barred from entering a small section of the sea off Dalian until Sunday evening.

China started the low-key trials on Wednesday amid concerns among its neighbors about its growing military strength and increasingly assertive claims to disputed territory. China says the carrier is intended for research and training.

China has spent the better part of a decade refurbishing the vessel after it was towed from Ukraine in 1998, minus its engines, weaponry and navigation systems.