The PLAN began designing a warship armed with guided missiles in 1960 based on the Soviet Neustrashimy, with features from the Kotlin-class destroyer, but the Sino-Soviet split stopped work.

The ships nominally entered service in the early 1970s, but few were fully operational before 1985; workmanship was poor due to the Cultural Revolution.

The Falklands War made the prospective upgrades less impressive and cost effective, and the project was cancelled in 1984.

A 1986 upgrade project using American power plants, weapons, sensors, and computers was cancelled because of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

On 1 September 2020, Dalian arrived at the Liugong Island Ferry Terminal in Weihai, to be permanently anchored and converted into a museum ship.