“Building aircraft carriers is a symbol of an important nation. It is very necessary,” the China Daily paper quoted Admiral Hu Yanlin as saying earlier this month. “China has the capability to build aircraft carriers and should do so,” he said.
If you’re used to reading through DoD propaganda, no matter what country it’s coming from, you see what the admiral is saying here. Here’s my loose translation of what Admiral Hu is getting at: “We don’t actually need a carrier, but it’s part of being one of the big boys so we have to do it, like paying for your kid’s wedding. So we’ll turn out a few of them, but we’re only going to do it when it’s cheap and doesn’t interfere with production of real weapons like the DF-21.”
http://exiledonline.com/war-nerd-china-joins-the-yacht-club/
So long as air power will play a significant part in warfare platforms to bring airpower where ever needed too will play a part.
If we are talking about a potential South China Sea conflict, then it's all in range of Chinese planes flying off Hainan.
If we are talking more broadly, then I think you'll find that the Chinese idea of world power does not involve force projection the way the US understands it.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_carrier#China
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_aircraft_carrier_Liaon...
One would note that India spent $2.3 Billion on INS Vikramaditya[1], which was also an ex-Soviet aircraft carrier, of roughly similar vintage. It was fitted out though, so the comparison isn't entirely fair.
Nevertheless.. $20M vs $2.3B