China appears to be in the process of building a supercarrier that could rival the biggest aircraft carrier in the world, the USS Gerald Ford.

According to satellite images taken from the Dalian shipyard in Liaoning province, shared by Maxar Technologies, China looks to be constructing an aircraft carrier with four runways or "catapults" - the joint-most ever built on a ship.

At present, Beijing has three aircraft carriers it can call upon, while the US has 11.

Speaking to MSNBC about the Satelitte images, Michael Duitsman, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said: "We think this is their testing equipment and layouts for the upcoming Type 04 carrier," Duitsman said in a video call this week.

He added that it is believed "that the new carrier will have four catapults".

Beijing has not confirmed that its first supercarrier is being constructed.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Washington, would not comment on the design and said that the country's defence policy is "purely defensive in nature."

Shanghai-based military analyst Ni Lexiong said that China "should have no problem striving for one or two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers," but added that in the era of AI ships along may not be the future of warfare.

"Unmanned aircraft carriers with a focus on drone attacks may become the main weapon of the future navy," he added.

The news of the construction comes in the wake of the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth explicitly warning about the threat posed by China.

He said that the US had a "peer competitor in the communist Chinese, with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific."

He added that the US was "prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific."