On May 24, the Third Future Network Development Conference concluded in Jiangning District, Nanjing. Through this conference, the gateway to the future network has been opened: a series of concepts and architectures for future networks are taking shape; the release of the '2019 Global Future Network Development White Paper' signals that the networked world will undergo transformative changes in the near future—and in certain domains, disruptive innovation has already emerged. Notably, the world’s first indigenously developed Network Endogenous Security Testbed—designed and built in China—successfully withstood over 2.9 million comprehensive, high-intensity cyberattacks without a single breach.
Imagine being able to remotely control a vehicle located several kilometers away from your home—and execute car ignition, acceleration, and deceleration within milliseconds. Sounds futuristic, doesn’t it? At the 'Envisioning the Future' Industry Ecosystem Special Session of the Third Future Network Development Conference, this science-fiction scenario became reality—powered by cutting-edge 5G network technology.
Outside the main venue, a '5G Experience Zone' featured a simulated driver’s cabin comprising two large displays and a cockpit setup. One screen showed autonomous driving mode; the other displayed 5G remote driving mode… This '5G Remote + Autonomous Driving' experience was jointly established by Nanjing Forward Autonomous Driving Technology Research Institute, China Unicom, and the Nanjing Institute of Mobile Communications at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Guests experienced 'human-vehicle separation' remote driving powered by 5G networks, gaining firsthand insight into 5G’s advanced capabilities and futuristic potential.
'This is made possible by 5G communication technology,' explained Yang Xiaodong, head of Nanjing Forward Autonomous Driving Technology Research Institute. 'Under previous 4G conditions, video transmission suffered significant latency—the driver would see footage captured when the vehicle was still two meters behind its current position. With 5G, however, image clarity improves dramatically, and positional error shrinks to just 10 centimeters—enabling precise remote control even for low-speed vehicles.'
The 'Envisioning the Future' Industry Ecosystem Special Session invited keynote speakers including Joe Weinman and Rod, founding director of the U.S. National Cybersecurity Center. Entrepreneurs from aviation and travel, brewing, finance, artificial intelligence, and construction machinery sectors gathered to engage in an insightful dialogue on 5G technology development and multi-scenario applications across intelligent industry ecosystems.
Joe Weinman highlighted 5G’s broad applicability in healthcare—for instance, connecting wearable and implantable devices directly to physicians for remote diagnosis and treatment, among other functions. Drones, he added, could even assist in transporting transplant organs.
'If you visited our automated distillery and didn’t smell the aroma of baijiu, you might not even realize it’s a liquor factory.'—Li Weiqun, Deputy General Manager of Jiangsu Jingshiyuan Distillery Co., Ltd., shared his vision of 5G application scenarios. In his view, modern technologies have enabled intelligent brewing—from fermentation processes and core brewing techniques to off-line quality inspection. Industrial robots, machine vision, and laser measurement systems are now widely deployed, achieving near-complete digitalization throughout the production chain.
Yin Jianhui, Vice President of 91 Technology Group, stated that 5G development serves as a catalyst for innovative technologies such as big data and cloud computing. Currently, financial services remain the most widespread application domain for big data. Meanwhile, Guangzhou Xiaomada Information Technology Co., Ltd.—based in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area—has long focused on digital government services. Li Wei, the company’s General Manager, noted that 5G infrastructure, through seamless integration and interconnection of big data, transforms the traditional paradigm of 'people seeking services' into 'services finding people'—saving both time and effort.
In fact, whether in traditional or emerging industries, all sectors must confront challenges head-on amid the rapid arrival of the 5G era. Li Weiqun pointed out that offline purchases account for as much as 75% of baijiu sales, yet low openness severely hampers data collection. Li Wei identified user experience as the primary bottleneck in digital government services: 'People often complain, “It’s hard to complete this task on my phone—I tap around but can’t proceed.” The root cause isn’t poor mobile app design or development—it’s inadequate interoperability between new mobile interfaces and legacy government information systems.' He emphasized that embedding new tools—such as those for government IT systems—requires timely formulation and implementation of relevant national laws, regulations, and technical standards. Legislative support must keep pace; this is a systemic undertaking. Moreover, data openness and sharing remain insufficient today—most data exist in isolated silos, disconnected from one another. Promoting open, shared, and interconnected data should be a key priority going forward. Perhaps connecting trillion-scale future networks is the cure.
Over 2.9 Million Attack Tests
Indigenous Security Testbed Successfully Defends All Attempts
The highlight—and most intense event—of the conference was the Second 'Strong Cyber' Mimic Defense International Elite Challenge. Nearly 30 elite white-hat hacker teams from around the world fiercely competed in the preliminary round, targeting the world’s first Network Endogenous Security Testbed. Employing a novel hybrid testing model combining 'black-box' and 'white-box' security assessments—with external intrusion and injection attacks conducted simultaneously—the competition comprehensively and rigorously evaluated the security and reliability of mimic defense mechanisms.
According to personnel from the competition platform provider, top-tier international 'white-hat' hacker teams launched over 2.9 million comprehensive, high-intensity cyberattacks against domestically developed mimic defense network equipment designed by Chinese researchers—and not a single attack succeeded. This fully demonstrates the equipment’s independent and effective capability to withstand uncertain threats—including those exploiting unknown vulnerabilities and backdoors—validating the endogenous security properties of mimic defense technology. Media outlets have hailed this mimic defense network equipment as a disruptive innovation, signifying that China’s cybersecurity sovereignty is increasingly under its own control.
'Currently, informatization and cybersecurity—the “twin wheels” of a vehicle—are developing unevenly,' said Academician Wu Jiangxing of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of the National Digital Switching System Engineering & Technological Research Center. 'Cybersecurity issues constrain informatization development—especially global technological collaboration—and urgently require an effective scientific solution.'
Wu Jiangxing added that a series of real-world tests demonstrate that, even under globalization—where supply-chain trustworthiness for hardware and software components cannot be guaranteed or where components may contain malicious code—mimic defense can ensure secure and controllable operation of network information systems or control devices. Its universal applicability provides robust technical support for dismantling information-security barriers and safeguarding globally open industrial and supply chains in cyberspace. It also contributes Chinese wisdom toward building an interconnected, co-governed, and shared cyberspace community with a shared future.
Future Networks Enabling Trillion-Scale Connectivity
Multiple Applications Set to Benefit Ordinary Citizens
At the closing ceremony, the 'Future Network Development White Paper (2019 Edition)'—compiled jointly by Jiangsu Future Network Innovation Institute, Zijinshan Laboratory for Network Communication and Security, Southeast University, and 22 other institutions—was officially released. Covering seven key areas—including background context and frontier hotspot technologies—the white paper details the latest global developments in future networks and forecasts future trends: By 2030, future networks are expected to support seven core capabilities, including enabling trillion-scale device connectivity.
'By 2020, global IP-network-connected devices will reach 26.3 billion units, of which industrial and machine-to-machine connections will account for 12.2 billion—nearly half the total. Many network applications—such as data uploads and control command delivery in industrial internet—require end-to-end latency controlled at the microsecond-to-millisecond level. Yet conventional networks can only reduce end-to-end latency to tens of milliseconds,' explained Academician Liu Yunjie of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, President of Jiangsu Future Network Innovation Institute, and Technology Column Advisor of this newspaper. 'Technologies like deep learning and decoupled compute-storage architectures place urgent demands on ultra-low-latency data center networks.' He predicted that, as commercial 5G deployment accelerates, application scenarios—including telemedicine, autonomous driving, environmental monitoring, entertainment, and industrial automation—will soon deliver tangible benefits to ordinary citizens.
Additionally, during the closing ceremony, a global innovation-resource aggregation project signing ceremony was held, concluding 20 cooperation agreements—including the Great Wall Supercloud Headquarters Base Project and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) Nanjing Company’s Industrial Internet Platform Innovation Project—with a total investment exceeding RMB 5.8 billion. These collaborations will serve as leading benchmarks for industry and sectoral advancement, propelling China’s overall future network development.
The selection of Jiangning District, Nanjing, as the host location for the Future Network Development Conference aims to activate Nanjing’s scientific research and innovation ecosystem, promote talent and technology collaboration, and bolster Nanjing’s city branding as an 'Innovation Capital and Beautiful Ancient Capital.' Guided by China’s national strategy for building a cyber-power, the conference seeks to actively advance this strategic goal—showcasing exemplary achievements from leading enterprises and institutions to drive dual improvements in both soft and hard industrial capabilities, while conveying China’s firm determination to realize the Chinese Dream. Amid increasing global integration, the Future Network Development Conference will continue promoting intelligent convergence across borders, collaborating with countries worldwide to jointly shape the future of global networking—and usher in a new chapter for the world’s cyberspace.
Last updated: 2026-03-08