The issue would be, whether 100,000 ton is practicial or not, which, it is possible that a 60,000 ton ship would be better. But I don't know for sure since I don't study military strategy enough to say one way or another. But I do believe China will eventually develop a nuclear powered carrier. The advantages are, of course, that the ship can operate for a very long time without refueling.
***Affordability wise not an option? China will soon be have the largest GDP in the world (estimation time, about 2020)***
Are you a ChiCom diehard to suggest that the PRC can sustain the cost of an armada the size of the USN when even the US, which was the larges economy in the world for the last century and she still is, gets itself into the economic mess it’s in today?
Carriers are no fancy catamaran joyride in the warm and hazy sun of the Florida Keys. Carriers are self contained systems as the Battlestar Galacticas, it’s about USS Starship Enterprises, it’s about MC80a Star Cruisers and about Corellian Corvettes. Simply put: carriers costs an arm, a leg, and a fat bank account to maintain and operate and — somebody needs to pay for it. I doubt the ChiComs can handle it.
Bottom line: I don’t think the ChiComs are going to follow America’s lead because carriers are simply way too costly. I think they will go for the cheap, dime a dozen, fast pace to bang together carriers of the Varyag class where the words “expendable” and “numerical advantage” have to play into the picture.