In the early days of the establishment of the Qing navy, there were four fleets, namely Beiyang Navy, Nanyang Navy, Fujian Navy and Guangdong Navy, respectively guarding one side. Each fleet has important military ports in this area, such as Lushun Port, Mawei Port, Humen Port and Huangpu Port.

Beiyang Navy ranked first in Qing Dynasty, first in East Asia and ninth in the world. Its guarding position is Shandong and its northern Yellow Sea, and its important ports are Ahava, Lushun and Dagukou. One of the most important ports is Lushun Port. Unfortunately, Beiyang Navy was basically destroyed in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, and later transferred from Nanyang Navy to form a part.

Nanyang Fleet is the second navy division of the Qing Dynasty, guarding the coastal areas of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and its important ports are Shanghai and Nanjing. One of the most important ports is Shipu Port. In the Sino-French War, Nanyang Navy suffered heavy losses and finally merged with three other navy divisions in Xuantongyuan.

Fujian Navy guards Fujian coast and Taiwan Province Strait, and Mawei Military Port is an important port. The famous Mawei naval battle in history took place here. Because the Sino-French war of 1884 has basically lost its fighting capacity, it can be said to be extinct. But on record, it eventually merged with three other fleets. Guangdong Navy guards the South China Sea, and the famous opium destruction event of Lin Zexu Humen took place in Humen Port.

These four fleets showed that the Qing Dynasty attached great importance to maritime sovereignty, but they were all defeated in the end because of insufficient combat effectiveness, such as the failure of the Sino-French War in the Sino-Japanese War. Not the fleet, but the Qing government at that time was backward and decadent, and even powerful weapons could do nothing.