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By Micah McCartney
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New satellite imagery offers a glimpse of progress China is quietly making on a sprawling construction site outside Beijing, believed to be the future home of a major military command complex.
Newsweek has reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry by email with a request for comment.
Why It Matters
Construction of the facility began in mid-2024, according to expert analysis of images included in a January report by the U.K. newspaper Financial Times. Nicknamed "Beijing Military City" by some intelligence experts, the site—located about 20 miles southwest of the capital in the Qinglonghu area—covers approximately 1,500 acres. If completed as expected, it could be nearly 10 times the size of the Pentagon.
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Among its standout features are deep pits that analysts believe could house hardened bunkers to shelter China's leadership in the event of a major conflict—including a nuclear one—with the United States.
What To Know
The new imagery shows further progress since the earlier images that made headlines in January.
In the original FT report, analysts pointed to the sheer scale of the underground infrastructure, with at least 100 cranes operating across the site.
"China's main secure command center is in the Western Hills, northeast of the new facility, and was built decades ago at the height of the Cold War," a former U.S. intelligence official told the newspaper. "The size, scale, and partially buried characteristics of the new facility suggest it will replace the Western Hills complex as the primary wartime command facility."
Analysts say such a facility would align with Chinese leader Xi Jinping's broader ambition to surpass the United States as the preeminent global military power.
"This fortress only serves one purpose, which is to act as a doomsday bunker for China's increasingly sophisticated and capable military," the Financial Times quoted one China researcher as saying on condition of anonymity.
Xi is pushing for the People's Liberation Army to become a world-class military by 2049. Long-running tensions with Washington, and Xi's belief that the U.S. seeks to constrain Beijing's rise, have fueled a rapid military expansion.
This has included an estimated threefold increase of China's nuclear warhead stockpile from around 200 to 600 since 2020. Still, this arsenal remains far smaller than that of the United States and Russia.
Another key milestone is 2027, the year by which U.S. officials believe Xi has instructed his forces to be capable of taking Taiwan—though Beijing will not necessarily attempt the invasion during this or any other year.
An attack on the self-ruled island and tech hub remains the most likely trigger for a great power conflict between the U.S. and China. Washington maintains a long-standing policy of "strategic ambiguity" to keep Beijing guessing about whether U.S. forces would intervene in Taiwan's defense.
What People Have Said
Michael Beckley, assistant professor of Political Science at Tufts University, Massachusetts, said in an interview with German public, state-owned international broadcaster Deutsche Welle: "Xi Jinping has said in his speeches that he's facing all-around encirclement by the West.
"And so this seems to be his way of trying to get ready to build a fortress, both around China but also around himself, because a big part of this bunker is basically to be resistant to nuclear strikes that might hit Beijing. So it shows just the potential fear that's going on within Beijing."
What Happens Next
Chinese officials have not publicly commented on the project, and its expected completion date remains unknown.
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