According to the thread on reddit people have posted about these on the internet up to 5 years ago. The most plausible explanation on the thread seems to be that the criss-cross pattern is a test range for autonomous cruise missiles, designed to mimic city streets.
Here is a quote from the thread:
"It is an optical test range for autonomous cruise missile targeting systems, to simulate the street grids of cities. If you check the scale of the grid on google earth (+40° 27' 6.89", +93° 44' 20.77") you'll notice that the grid is the size of several city blocks. If you look here (40.479272,93.47713) they have a fake airport painted out over ditches, creeks and inclines. There is also a paved runway short way away, with random bomb craters in it.
The round circle with the 3 jets in the middle is a blasting test range, used to test the dispersion, and effectiveness of explosions over a varying ranges." [1]
Here is a quote from the thread: "It is an optical test range for autonomous cruise missile targeting systems, to simulate the street grids of cities. If you check the scale of the grid on google earth (+40° 27' 6.89", +93° 44' 20.77") you'll notice that the grid is the size of several city blocks. If you look here (40.479272,93.47713) they have a fake airport painted out over ditches, creeks and inclines. There is also a paved runway short way away, with random bomb craters in it.
The round circle with the 3 jets in the middle is a blasting test range, used to test the dispersion, and effectiveness of explosions over a varying ranges." [1]
[1] http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/mbth1/china_googl...