This year, China has come up with some impressive technological feats. But as 2025 draws to a close, its latest invention may be the grandest yet: a 1,243-mile-wide computing power pool, essentially allowing the country’s top computing centers to operate as a unified system.
Last week, state-run Science and Technology Daily reported the launch of the Future Network Test Facility (FNTF), a giant distributed AI computing pool capable of connecting distant computing centers. The high-speed optical network spans across 40 cities in China, measuring at about 34,175 miles (55,000 kilometers)—enough to circle the equator 1.5 times, according to the South China Morning Post.
But the biggest advantage of the system stems from its efficiency, as it not only connects each computer hub but also achieves 98% of a single center’s efficiency, project director Liu Yunjie told the Daily. This makes the system “revolutionary for scenarios with extremely high real-time demands, such as AI large model training, telemedicine, and the industrial internet,” he added.
“East Data, West Computing”
FNTF is the centerpiece of China’s “East Data, West Computing” project. First outlined in the country’s sweeping plans for major scientific infrastructures in 2013, the “East-West” project intends to connect resource-rich regions in western China to busier parts of eastern China, where data and AI development demand are highest.
The new computing hub does just that and runs 24/7 while supporting 128 diverse networks and simultaneously running 4,096 service trials, the Daily reported. In early tests, Liu’s team transmitted 72 terabytes of data from a radio telescope in under 1.6 hours. On regular internet, the same action would have taken about 699 days to complete, Liu said.
The hub has also proven effective in AI development, he added.
A gamble for innovation
That said, it remains to be seen how well the network will hold up in the long run. The high-speed data transfer system is what’s known as a “deterministic network,” which treats each data packet like a well-scheduled train running on a fixed timetable.
While that offers some obvious advantages—as demonstrated by FNTF’s early trial runs—operating such systems, especially at large scales, requires high levels of network stability and energy supply.
“This gigantic computer will be the ambitious gamble that could give China the leading edge in AI,” commented The Security Fact.
But China appears confident that things will work out. Wu Hequan, a scientist at the Chinese Academy of Engineering on the evaluation committee for FNTF, told the Daily that already, this facility had supported research in 5G and 6G technologies.
“In the future, this network will be opened to sectors like industrial manufacturing, energy, power, and the low-altitude economy,” Liu said.
Gayoung Lee
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