Gizmodo is reporting that China has an enormous quixotic structure built in the Kumtag Desert, which was discovered on recent Google Earth views, See Article

They cannot figure out what this is.

Well, once again your kindly old science fiction thriller novelist/cartoonist has the obvious answer.

The image is a stylized QR or Quick Response Code, the ubiquitous stamp that you see on mail and product packaging that conveys highly condensed information for scanners.

Why is China stamping its desert with such a code. Again, an obvious answer. They are sending a signal to outer space. Perhaps it is meant as a beacon for alien cultures. Perhaps, it is an advertisement for Chinese manufactured goods or maybe even an offer to team up with alien cultures.