China's first quantum cryptography network has been successfully
tested in Beijing, the Chinese Academy of Sciences announced on
Monday.
The commercial communication network of the Chinese Network
Company (CNC) was used to test the quantum network.
The testing was carried out by the Key Lab of Quantum
Information under the University of Science and Technology. Leading
scientist Guo Guangcan said that current cryptography faces
challenges from quantum computers, because theoretically all codes
can be deciphered.
But quantum information cannot be copied and any interception of
quantum information is easily discovered, Guo said, adding that the
new quantum cryptography is therefore "absolutely safe" and fully
protected against decoding.
The research group successfully completed a 125-km fiber
point-to-point quantum key distribution (QKD) experiment between
Beijing and Tianjin in 2004, which solved the problem of stability
in quantum cryptography systems.
(Xinhua News Agency April 3, 2007)