The National Stadium, covering an area of 204,000 square meters with 91,000 capacity, broke ground in December 2003, officially started construction in March 2004, and was completed in June 2008.

[5] The National Stadium is owned and operated by a partnership company between Beijing Municipal State-owned Assets Management Co Ltd (58%) and CITIC Group (42%).

The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance of a bird's nest.

A shopping mall and a hotel are planned to be constructed to increase use of the stadium, which has had trouble attracting events, football and otherwise, after the Olympics.

[10] Of the final thirteen, Li Xinggang of China Architecture Design and Research Group (CADG), said after he placed the model of the "nest" proposal at the exhibition hall and saw the rival entries he thought to himself, "We will win this.

[12] In an effort to design a stadium that was "porous" while also being "a collective building, a public vessel",[11] the team studied Chinese ceramics.

[11] The stadium consists of two independent structures, standing 50 feet apart:[1] a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it.

[15] Enerpac was granted the contract to perform the stage lifting and lowering of the stadium roof as part of the construction process.

This phased installation involved the interconnection of sections of the curved steel frame constructed in Shanghai and transported to Beijing for assembly and welding.

The new total of 91,000 was shaved further when 11,000 temporary seats were removed after the 2008 Summer Olympics; decreasing the stadium's capacity to current 80,000.

[28] Beijing National Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies, athletic events, and football final of the 2008 Summer Olympics from 8 to 24 August 2008.

[3] The stadium also hosted the Opening and Closing ceremonies and athletic events of the 2008 Summer Paralympics from 6 to 17 September 2008.

"[1] Although ignored by the Chinese media, design consultant Ai Weiwei has voiced his anti-Olympics views and distanced himself from the project, saying, "I've already forgotten about it.

The Beijing Guo’an football club was scheduled to play at the stadium, but later backed out of their agreement, citing the embarrassment of using an 80,000+ seat venue for games that routinely draw only slightly more than 10,000.

On 1 November 2010, the IAAF announced that the 2015 World Championships in Athletics would take place at the Beijing National Stadium.

Entertainment including Kangta, BoA, TVXQ, Super Junior (Super Junior-M), Girls' Generation, SHINee, f(x), EXO, Zhang Liyin, and Tasty performed at the stadium for the first time on 19 October 2013 as part of the SMTown Live World Tour III.

Chinese pop star Jason Zhang held the Future Live concert at the stadium on 11 August 2018.

On 12 January 2009 the venue's owners announced plans for the stadium to anchor a shopping and entertainment complex.

[36] However, by 2013 the stadium had fallen into visual disrepair and was criticized as appearing rusty and neglected by visitors to Beijing.

In 2009, the stadium was the site of a Pit Stop for the double-length penultimate leg in the 14th season of The Amazing Race.

[50] Later in 2016, the first leg of the third season of The Amazing Race China featured a Roadblock where a team member reenacted a dancing segment from the opening ceremony.

[51] The National Stadium was intended to be a Monument of New China, expected to be visited by millions of tourists and showcased through an array of media representations.

[52] In spite of the lack of significant events, the stadium appears to be quite profitable, drawing some 20,000 to 30,000 people a day at the price of a 50 yuan admission.

The stadium was used to host "The Great Journey", an art performance marking the 100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party on 1 July 2021.