Quantum Key Distribution Backbone QKD-Backbone Opens in China: Beijing-Shanghai Quantum Communication Enters Practical Stage

Quantum Key Distribution Backbone QKD-Backbone Opens in China: Beijing-Shanghai Quantum Communication Enters Practical Stage

On April 10, 2029, China Telecom announced the official launch of QKD-Backbone, the world's first commercial quantum key distribution backbone network. Connecting Beijing, Shanghai, and Hefei over 2,000 kilometers, the network achieves key distribution rates of 1 million bits per second—two orders of magnitude above 2024's laboratory records.

QKD-Backbone's core technical breakthrough lies in its "trusted relay plus quantum entanglement swapping" hybrid architecture. Since photon transmission loss in optical fiber grows exponentially with distance, pure quantum key distribution is limited to approximately 100 kilometers. China Telecom's solution deploys 22 trusted relay nodes along the route, using quantum entanglement swapping to establish quantum channels between adjacent nodes, with a central key management system completing end-to-end key stitching and verification.

Project chief scientist and USTC Professor Pan Jianwei stated: "QKD-Backbone is not a laboratory demonstration but genuine infrastructure for commercial clients. Banks, securities firms, and government agencies can now protect their most critical data transmissions by leasing quantum encrypted channels."

Initial commercial clients include ICBC, the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the National Information Center. Quantum encrypted channels are priced at 120,000 RMB per Gbps monthly—approximately 6 times the cost of traditional encrypted lines.

However, security researchers have raised concerns about the "trusted relay" model. Under the current architecture, relay nodes temporarily access plaintext keys, making each node a potential attack target. Tsinghua University cryptography professor Wang noted: "True end-to-end quantum security requires quantum repeaters, not trusted relays. But quantum repeaters remain far from technologically mature."

China Telecom plans to extend QKD-Backbone to 8 major cities by end-2030 and begin deploying quantum-repeater-based second-generation networks in 2031.