The Beiyang Fleet was one of the four modernised Chinese navies in the late Qing Dynasty. The navies were heavily sponsored by Li Hongzhang, the Viceroy of Chili (Hebei). The Beiyang Fleet was the dominant navy in East Asia before the first Sino-Japanese War. the Beiyang Fleet consisted mostly of battleships imported from Germany and Britain. When the flagships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan were purchased from Germany,The Beiyang Fleet was said to be the "Best in Asia" and "The 8th largThe pride of the Beiyang Fleet were the German-built steel battleships Dingyuan and Zhenyuan. The other Chinese fleets, the Nanyang and Fujian fleets did not help the Beiyang fleet in the war, remembering how the Beiyang fleet recalled two ships during the Sino-French War and out of rivalry .
Corruption was a serious problem. Chinese politicians systematically embezzled funds, even during the war. As a result, the Beiyang Fleet did not purchase any battleships after its establishment in 1888. The purchase of ammunition stopped in 1891, with the funding being embezzled to build the summer palace in Beijing. Logistics were a huge problem, as construction of railroads in Manchuria had been discouraged.