In 1911, the fledgling Provisional Government of the Republic of China had inherited a small, obsolete navy from the former Qing Dynasty.

The Qing Imperial Chinese Navy had been in the midst of a naval rearmament, dubbed the "New Fleet Programme" since 1910 until the Xinhai Revolution overthrew 268 year old Manchu rule.

The new Yuan Shikai-led government quickly embarked on acquiring a loan of $125 million from the six great powers to stabilize the shaky economy and to rearm the Republic of China Navy.

'Flying Swan') which was sold to the Kingdom of Greece, and the destroyers Lung Tuan (Chinese: 龙湍; pinyin: Lóng Tuān; lit.

This relationship continued into March 1913 with Arnhold, Karberg & C. eventually bringing in arms manufacturer Škoda Works of Pilsen and three Austrian banks for a two consolidated loans of £3,200,000.

On June 27, 1913, the director general of Škoda informed the Chinese Beiyang government that the first loan was reduced to £870,000, which would only be enough to build one large cruiser rather than three.

While initially this was rejected by the Chinese Navy, after additional funds were clawed back from renegotiating the £2,000,000 loan for artillery became available.

The Number 68 cruiser was a unique ship in terms of layout with a mix of older, conservative and newer, advanced design elements.

After the end of the war, Škoda, now in the newly independent nation of Czechoslovakia, still remained the primary shareholder of CNT and reapproached the Chinese government for the sale of the cruisers.