The third-generation Zhou class submarine was first identified in satellite images in May 2021 and subsequently unveiled by the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) in July 2022.

[6] Most western analysts, including unofficial statements by officials from the U.S. Department of Defense, believe that the submarine is nuclear powered, however national security futurist and author P. W. Singer and Michael Dahm, Senior Resident Fellow for Aerospace and China Studies at George Washington University, dispute the claim, instead arguing for a translation error of Chinese reports which they say actually references air-independent propulsion (AIP) technology, the conventional propulsion technology used on existing Type 039A/B/C submarines already in service.

[7] In late May or early June 2024, the first of the Zhou class allegedly sank alongside its pier in the Yangtze River during fitting out at Wuchang Shipbuilding.

Thomas Shugart, senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, was the first to publicly identify the incident, writing on social media site X in June regarding satellite photos of the Wuchang shipyard showing what he described as a large number of floating cranes salvaging a submerged submarine-shaped object from the river bottom.

[5] A spokesperson from the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC denied any knowledge of the incident to CNN, saying "We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide.