The high-speed info demonstration net, which will bring a favorable turn for China's new generation Internet, has been approved by experts in Beijing on September 29.

In 1999, to reach the commanding elevation in key technology of future information infrastructure facilities, the Ministry of Science and Technology urgently started construction of the high-speed information demonstration net, a key project of the State's "863 Program". The nearly 1,000 scientists organized by said ministry finally overcame all sorts of software and hardware technical difficulties.

Currently, only two or three countries in the world have the capabilities to make key equipment of the new generation Internet. The establishment of the net will bring about the rapid development of info network industry and accelerate China's info net construction and the industrialization of key equipment, thus pushing China to the world's front ranks in this field, said Professor Wu Jiangxing, group leader of the project.

The high-speed net is connected with those of Tsinghua University, Peking University, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications respectively. When describing the speed of the net, a technician drew an analogy that the net can transmit the information of altogether 10,000 books with 250,000 characters in one second, i.e., all pieces information of a large library in one minute.

(People's Daily 10/02/2001)