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China is building a massive military command center outside Beijing, estimated to be much larger than the U.S. Department of Defense, and will include bunkers capable of protecting the leaders of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA), including from nuclear strikes.
Satellite images, which are being studied by US intelligence and have been obtained by the Financial Times, show a construction site 30km southwest of Beijing. It is more than 4km in diameter. The facility will be the world's largest military command centre, several current and former US officials told the newspaper. Some intelligence analysts have dubbed the project "Beijing Military City", according to three people familiar with the situation. Judging by the images, the main construction began in mid-2024.
The construction site has “all the hallmarks of a secret military facility,” including reinforced concrete and deep underground tunnels, a Chinese expert familiar with the images said. The center is “almost 10 times larger than the Pentagon, which is in line with [the Chinese leader’s] ambitions.” Xi Jinping surpass the USA."
According to the expert, this fortress is designed for one purpose only – to serve as a Doomsday bunker for the Chinese military.
The PLA's current headquarters in central Beijing is fairly new, says a former senior American intelligence official, but it was not designed as a secure combat command center.
The PLA is increasing its nuclear arsenal and developing new types of weapons. For example, it (unlike the United States) already has hypersonic missiles in its arsenal. In 2021, such a medium-range missile Dongfeng 17 was launched over the South China Sea. Its speed is up to 11200 km/h. In February 2023, according to Pentagon information, the United States recorded a successful test of the new hypersonic missile Dongfeng 27: it flew 12 km in 2100 minutes.
Xi Jinping has set a goal of transforming the PLA into a “world-class armed force” by 2027. By that time, it should be ready to invade Taiwan, according to the US military. At the same time, Beijing believes that Russia and the US, the largest nuclear powers, should reduce their arsenals. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2024 Russia had 4380 nuclear warheads available for use, the US had 3708, and China had 500. At the same time, it became the world leader in the pace of nuclear arsenal expansion, increasing the number of warheads by 90 in the last year.
