A report claims that China has built an underground nuclear bunker for the country’s top leadership, their subordinates, troops, and staff in case a nuclear war breaks out.

Axar.az reports citing AFP.

The claim was made in a report published by the South China Morning Post, which cited a “government-funded geological survey,” on Saturday.

The shelter is reportedly located under a national park on the outskirts of the central government’s headquarters in downtown Beijing, extending more than two kilometres beneath an unusually thick and hard layer of rock.

“The bunker is part of the Central Military Commission’s Joint Battle Command Center, which was revealed to the world in 2016 when state media reported that President Xi Jinping, dressed in fatigues, had visited the facility,” the Hong Kong-based newspaper said.

The paper added that the command centre or the bunker was referred to as the “brain” of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) since all military decisions would allegedly be made there during the war.

State media reported that the daily operations conducted in the centre included analyzing military intelligence, monitoring activities across China’s five “battle zones,” and issuing orders to military forces active at home and abroad in the event of a serious threat such as a nuclear strike.

The South China Morning Post claimed that Beijing had built several fallout shelters since the 1950s, but their exact locations were classified.

“They are designed to be used independently for long periods without external supplies, and have sophisticated ventilation systems to filter out radioactive pollutants produced by atomic bombs,” it said.