The Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, passed through the Taiwan Strait on Thursday morning. It's on a mission to test its crew and technical capabilities.

The Carrier and its four escort ships spent about 10 hours to get through the strait that separates the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The Liaoning left its homeport of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province for the South China Sea on Tuesday. The vessel was escorted by two missile destroyers, the Shenyang and Shijiazhuang, and two missile frigates, the Yantai and Weifang.

In a routine press conference on Wednesday morning, a Chinese mainland spokeswoman reiterated that the Liaoning is a normal arrangement in its scheduled training, and that efforts will be continued?to promote?the?peaceful development of the?relationship?between Taiwan and the mainland.

"We will continue to initiate new prospects in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations," said Fan Liqing, of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference.

Fan made the remarks when responding to a question about Taiwan authorities' concern about the carrier's possible passage through the Taiwan Strait.

During the voyage, the carrier has kept a high degree of vigilance against approaches from foreign warships and aircraft, according to Liaoning Captain Zhang Zheng.

This is the first time the carrier has conducted a cross-sea training voyage and passed through the Taiwan Strait since it was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy in September last year, according to Zhang.

The vessel is China's only aircraft carrier in operation. It was refitted from an unfinished Ukraine carrier and was delivered to the navy on Sept 25, 2012. The military said it is used for training and for tests.

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