There were “no casualties on the ground,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that the cause of the accident was under investigation.

China’s military, which is undergoing a well-funded modernisation drive, has had other accidents in recent years.

An air force plane crashed in Guizhou province during a training exercise in January 2018, killing crew members onboard, the air force said, without revealing the number.

State media reported the crash of an aircraft carrier-based J-15 fighter in April 2018 during training, resulting in the death of the pilot.

In 2015, two pilots died during a training session when their plane engine caught fire shortly after take off, state media reported at the time.

Beijing announced last week a 7.5% increase in military spending to 1.19 trillion yuan (US$177.6 billion) in 2019, a lower rise than last year as the country faces an economic slowdown.

China is working to provide the two million-strong People’s Liberation Army with state-of-the-art hardware, spending heavily on stealth warplanes, aircraft carriers and other weaponry.