China is developing technologies to build a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, state media reported on Wednesday, as Beijing pushes forward with an ambitious military modernisation programme.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in October last year to turn China's military into a world-class fighting force by 2050, and has made new technology development a key policy plank, investing in stealth fighters, aircraft carriers and missiles.

State-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), the country's largest naval vessel manufacturer, revealed on Tuesday the ambition in a list of technical developments the company hopes to achieve as part of weaponry upgrades for the Chinese navy by 2025, according to the state-backed Global Times.

The announcement by CSIC appears to have been subsequently edited on the company's website to remove the mention of nuclear-powered vessels, but it remains widely available on the Chinese internet.

"We must...speed up key breakthroughs such as the realisation of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, new-style nuclear submarines, quiet submarines, and unmanned intelligent underwater defence systems," the original document said, according to the Global Times.