Launch of China's CENI High-Speed National Research Network

China Expands State-Backed Quantum Network and Centralizes Development in Hefei

China has built what is described as the world’s largest operational quantum communication program, combining a carrier-grade quantum key distribution (**QKD**) network spanning more than 12,000 kilometers across 17 provinces with satellite links including **Micius** and later space-ground integrations reaching roughly 4,600 kilometers. The effort has moved beyond laboratory demonstrations into deployment and commercialization through companies such as **QuantumCTek** and **China Telecom Quantum**, while Chinese researchers have also reported advances in twin-field QKD, device-independent QKD, quantum repeaters, photonic and superconducting quantum systems, and quantum error correction. At the center of the program is **Hefei National Laboratory**, which has emerged as the main hub for China’s state-directed quantum strategy by concentrating funding, talent, infrastructure, and industrial policy in one location under the broader **Sci-Tech Innovation 2030** framework. The laboratory’s ecosystem, closely tied to **USTC**, the **Chinese Academy of Sciences**, and a growing cluster of more than 70 quantum firms, is intended to accelerate work across communications, computing, sensing, and devices, even as questions remain over QKD security, including trusted relay nodes, hardware side channels, and the absence of widely accepted certification standards.