The commissioning of this class of supply ship indicates that the People's Liberation Army Navy has a stable ocean-going combat capability, and this was proved in the subsequent Somalia escort missions.

The 903 type integrated supply ship used some Russian equipment in the early stage, and later it was fully localized.

In the late 1990s, China's integrated supply ship Similan built for the Thai Navy's light aircraft carrier formation is generally considered to be an attempt by China to build a modern integrated supply ship.

[2] She was launched on 1 July 2003 at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai and commissioned on 18 April 2004 into the South Sea Fleet.

On 25 August 2013, USS Mason and Weishanhu conducted a joint VBSS training as part of a U.S.-China counter piracy exercise in the Gulf of Aden.