The Joint Operations Command Center of the Central Military Commission was established at the beginning of the 21st century in part to coordinate air operations in the East China Sea. The center was originally affiliated to the
General Staff Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army and was responsible for the joint command of the three armed forces branches. Originally called the Joint Operations Command Bureau of the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters of the Chinese People's Liberation Army,
Liu Yulin served as its deputy director. By 2014, the Joint Operations Command Center was located in the Staff Department's
Xishan Underground Command Compound at Dongsimu Village, Xianhongqi,
Haidian District,
Beijing, a compound at least 100 meters underground and designed to resist a nuclear strike. At the Central Military Commission reform work conference in November 2015, it was proposed to "establish theater-level joint operations command organizations and improve the Military Commission's joint operations command organization". In January 2016 the center's parent organization
General Staff Department of the PLA was abolished as part of the
2015 military reforms and the center was reorganized into the newly formed
Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission. In 2016 the engineering design research and innovation team of the
People's Liberation Army Rocket Force (specialist in underground facilities) renovated the new Joint Operations Command Center. On 20 April 2016,
General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Xi Jinping went on an inspection tour of the new facilities, and this was the first time the Center operating room was revealed to the public with photos. A visit to the JOCC in 2022 was also the first occasion in which Xi was referred to as "
Commander-in-Chief of the Central Military Commission" (军委联指总指挥) Some analysts interpreted this move as an attempt to display strength and strong leadership and as being more "political than military." The JOCC was transferred from the Joint Staff Department to direct control by the CMC sometime in 2022 ==Organization==