In the 1980s, the PLAN ordered
Shanghai-based Hudong Shipyard (now Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard) to build a replacement for the
Type 053K air defence frigate. The new class was based on the Type 053H2 frigate and designated Type 053H2G. Development was carried out under Project 055. The Type 053H2G was slightly larger than the Type 053H2, and equipped with
HQ-61B surface-to-air missiles (SAM). Four Type 053H2G were built between 1988 and 1991. Some sources claim they were called Type 055 and uprated with
HQ-7 SAMs; the alternate designation may have been confused with the Type 053H2G's development designation. The HQ-61 SAM proved unsatisfactory and the class was superseded by the
Type 053H3 which was an improved Type 053H2G equipped with HQ-7 SAMs. When the first three ships (Anqing, Huaibei and Huainan) of the class were transferred to the Coast Guard, all weapons except for the 4
Type 76 twin 37 mm naval guns were removed; the Z-9C helicopter was also replaced with a
Z-8. On Jintang(former Anqing) the twin 37mm guns were further replaced with twin 25mm cannons. All of the ships handed to the CCG are in the 2nd Bureau of the China Coast Guard, stationed in
Ningbo. == Ships of Class ==