CND Special Issue on Networking in China -- long!!

[David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>]

            *  *  *   C h i n a   N e w s   D i g e s t   *  *  *
            
                               (News Global)
                               
                  CND Special Issue on Networking in China
                  
                            Sunday, July 11, 1993
                            
Table of Contents                                                 # of Lines 
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** A Special Report - Current Computing/Networking Status in China ..... 305 
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Written and forwarded by: Cindy Zheng (zhengc () Sdsc Edu) 7/2/93

[Editor's note: Ms Cindy Zheng returned to China for a visit last month and 
came back with an excellent report on the current computing/networking 
status in China. We hope readers, particularly those with a keen interest in 
computer development and networking facilities in China, will enjoy this 
highly informative report. Please also note, US$1 = 8.5 to 10 RMB Yuan]

My name is Cindy Zheng.  I grew up in the People's Republic of China (PRC), 
came to the U.S. 13 years ago, and am currently working at San Diego 
Supercomputer Center as a systems manager.  Our center's director, Dr. Sid 
Karin, is a foreign advisor to the Key Study Development Project (KSDP) in 
the PRC.  This project is financed by the World Bank and the State Planning 
Committee of the PRC.  At the end of 1992, Dr Karin came back from KSDP 
Programme Advisory Committee meeting in Beijing.  He discussed with me many 
isuues of the project.  I took special interest in China's internet 
connection issue and have worked with Dr. Karin, some U.S. commercial 
carriers, network providers and my network friends to investigate and to 
promote the possibilities.

In June 1993, I finally made my first trip back to Beijing. Dr. Karin asked 
me to be his representative, to assess and to collaborate with NCFC 
(National Computer Networking Facility of China) project which is part of 
KSDP.  I also wanted to find out what people in China are thinking and doing 
about establishing direct network connections to the internet.

Beside the three NCFC sites, Peking University (PU), TsingHua University 
(TU) and Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), I also visited the Institute of 
Computer Application (ICA) under the Ministry of Machinery and Electronics 
Industry, the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China 
(ISTIC) and the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP).  I was invited to 
give talks on internet and on San Diego Supercomputer Center, met with the 
people in charge at each of the institutions, and discussed many important 
issues with them.

At the Institute of Computer Applications, I talked to Qian Tianbai, Vice- 
Chief Engineer in ICA and manager and administrator of CAnet, which is a 
X.25-based email network coinitiated by ICA and the University of Karlsruhe 
Germany.  Canet is the first network within CN domain registered with NIC 
(Network Information Center) in the U.S..

The situation of CAnet has been described by Qian himself in an email and 
also in Ernest Anderson's report on Jan 12, 1992.  Due to the high cost of 
sending and receiving emails via this connection, there has been no change 
other than having a few more email users.

I also learned, initially from Qian, that the Science and Technology 
Committee, the State Planning committee and NCFC met early this year and 
decided to go for direct internet connection to the U.S. and also there is a 
preparation committee in the making, attempting to coordinate all the network 
connectivities under CN domain within the PRC.

Through my visit, I found that there seemed to be some concern over which 
organization was going to host NIC.CN (Network Information Center) inside the 
PRC.  Some erroneously thought that NIC was the focal point for all physical 
connectivity.  Some were afraid that NIC would have authority over all the 
network connections.  Everywhere I went, I explained how NIC works in the 
U.S. in order to clear up any misunderstandings on NIC's functionalities so 
that hopefully the future NIC for the CN domain would not be an authoritative 
unit.

In the PRC's last 40-year history, coordination between government branches 
has been mostly initiated top-down.  There is a lack of foresight and 
habitual lack of coordinating bottom-up.  In the current environment of 
rampant power struggle and corruption, there is the tendency for a service 
unit to turn into an authoritative unit and get abused.

The Institute of High Energy Physics is one of many research institutes 
under Chinese Academy of Sciences.  There is a link, 64k leased line, 
between IHEP and SLAC in Stanford University. Physically, the link is a 
telephone line out of IHEP to a local BTP (Beijing Telecommunications and 
Post) office building, then through a fiber optic cable to a microwave 
station, from the microwave station to a satelite ground station in the 
suburb of Beijing, then via AT&T satelite link which finally ends up at SLAC 
in Stanford to the net.

This link was established due to the need on both sides - IHEP and SLAC. 
These 2 institutions are collaborating on a big research project and both 
sides feel the urgent need to communicate.  So SLAC is willing to be the 
connecting point for IHEP and is willing to pay for the cost on AT&T side. 
IHEP now is paying about 40,000 RMB/month (approx. $4,000) to BTP.

The usage on the link is mostly email, normally at 1-2% of capacity. 
However, the data that need to be transferred is too much for the link 
capacity. So they still ship tapes back and forth instead of using the link 
to transfer data.  SLAC opens accounts for IHEP people on SLAC's machines, 
so some people at IHEP do have internet access. But the usage of this link 
cannot be extended to general use by other institutions due to the nature of 
the foundation on which the link is established.

I spent a whole day at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, talked to Ning 
YuTian, the Director of NCFC Computer Network Center (CNC), Qian HuaLin, the 
Deputy Chief Engineer of CNC and many others.  Qian gave a progress report 
on NCFC and Su Zhenzi, the Deputy Director of CAS Computer Center, gave a 
progress report on the bid for the main computer system of NCFC.  I was 
asked to give a talk about San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and 
internet.  I talked about internet development history, emphasized 
government support of networking as basic infrastructure, talked about how 
internet works now, especially about NIC's function and role, talked about 
the rich resources internet can offer, gave practical tips on how to 
establish an internet connection and suggested certain criteria in choosing 
the best network carrier and provider.  I also introduced SDSC's mission, 
how each department works, how the four supercomputer centers under the 
National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S. compete and collaborate.

These talks and discussions cleared up many misconceptions. Some people there 
had approached the U.S. Government or the U.S. NSF and asked for permission 
to connect to internet and got negative answers, hence became very 
discouraged. I explained to them that government branches are the wrong 
places to ask internet questions.  They should approach commercial carriers 
and network providers for a positive response.

All the institutions I visited are very anxious to establish direct 
connections to internet in the U.S.  NCFC is especially ready technically 
and financially.  Multi-protocol routers from DEC will arrive in July.  CNC 
(NCFC Computer Network Center) people have done some investigations on 
network carriers and providers: JVNCnet, Sprint, South Korea (256k) and Hong 
Kong (64k) etc.  They are continuing on more fact-finding and detail 
negotiations.

There have been a few reports about NCFC project that are widely read and 
routed on the internet.  I will only update the progress made this year. 
NCFC backbone - fiber optic cables are all in place now, waiting for the 
network routers to arrive to connect among three campus nets (PUnet, TUnet 
and CASnet).  These routers are multi-protocol routers.  Both DECnet and 
TCP/IP protocols are commonly used in China.  Within a local area network, 
subnet routers are developed by local technical people, using PC.  They are 
just as good as what they could have imported, but cost much less.  For 
example, imported network bridges cost $12,000 each, but locally developed 
ones cost only $1,500 each, with multi-port, SLIP and multi-media 
capabilities too. They are also working on routers' enhancements, to carry 
TCP/IP traffic on ethernet, SLIP and X.25, so remote connection can be 
established to NCFC via CNPAC which is the domestic communication network 
provided by PTT (Ministry of Post, Telephone and Telegraph).

All three institutions under NCFC (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking 
University and Tsinghua University)  have started on the second phase of the 
NCFC project - application development. CAS-MIS has created 20 databases 
locally, they also initiated SDB (Science Database) project.

There has been total $2.25 million supplemental investment made by the 3 
institutions - CAS, PU and TU.  CAS expanded their LAN, currently connected 
19 of their research institutions and will connect 11 more by the end of 
this year.  Right now the fiber-optic cable for 13 more ethernets has 
arrived, the engineering design is completed.  CAS is in the process of 
selecting contractors to sign the contracts and start the actual 
construction.

At CAS, 100 mbps FDDI ring is operational and a 10 mbps bridge loop is an 
on-line automatic back-up.  There are about 100 accounts established on 
CASnet systems and CAS has conducted some user network training.

CAS is responsible for CNC (Computer Network Center) and intended to make it 
a supercomputer center which will be shared by other educational and 
research institutions.  This involves the purchasing of a supercomputer.

This main computer system is a major item funded under NCFC project. Because 
the funding comes from both the World Bank and the State Planning Committee, 
the bid procedure is double complicated.  Starting in 1991 but not until 
April 1993, was NCFC able to complete the technical bid document and 
submitted to WB for approval.  This is the first major step in the 
purchasing procedure and it is the hardest one too.

The progress has been slow, from what I learned, there are three reasons:

1. the required procedure itself is lengthy,
2. the U.S. restrictions to China on exporting high-end computer systems, 
3. distrust among different institutions in NCFC

The major obstacle is the U.S. export restrictions to China. In the 
scientific and research arena of the PRC, there is a definite need for 
supercomputers.  I visited some laboratories within CAS.  Many research 
projects require massive computing power and are now crawling on outdated 
small systems.  The U.S. is mainly concerned with any possible military use 
of exported supercomputers, and therefore attaches conditions such as the 
U.S. personnel must stay with the system to monitor its usage.  Chinese side 
has no problem with such conditions, but cannot afford to pay such personnel 
at the U.S. salary level.

The type of systems they can get without such problems are mid-range 
computers; in the U.S. we categorize them as mainframes.

Within NCFC, there are two different opinions on the solution. One is to 
purchase the best it can get and share it within and beyond NCFC.  Another 
is to purchase many workstations instead and spread them among different 
institutions.  This argument is not only provoked by the difficulty of 
getting a real supercomputer, but also motivated by the distrust among 
different institutions.  Historically, this is the extension of the argument 
about whether and where should the CNC be.  CAS won a very marginal majority 
vote (by one vote) on hosting CNC there.

Up to now, there are still three possible configurations for the main 
systems:

1. 1 supercomputer with both vector-scalar functionalities 
2. 2 mid-size systems
3. many workstations forming a cluster

These arguments and indecision also slowed down the progress in completing 
the bid documents.

I visited Peking University Computer Center (PUCC), talked to Zhang Xinghua, 
the Director of PUCC, Ren Shoukui, the Director of PU Computer Networks Lab 
and others.  I was invited to talk about internet and SDSC and Ren Shoukui 
gave a report on PUnet.  Peking University Computing Center has a staff of 
64.  Peking University has one of the top libraries in the country and is 
leading the effort in developing a library information retrieval system. Its 
library purchases reach $400,000/year, 80,000 books a year.  The software for 
automated management system is completed and operational on their VAX 11/750. 
But due to limited computing power of the hardware, there can be at most 8-10 
users on-line at a time and access is very slow.

Professor Hu Daoyuan is the brain behind TUnet.  He showed me the TU 
Computer Center and explained to me the progresses made on TUnet. TsingHua 
University's FDDI ring is operational.  One third of total 2,000 computers, 
PCs, are connected now.  There is a concentrator connected on the FDDI 
rings, but no workstations are attached so far because they cannot afford 
the FDDI interfaces for the workstations.

TU has an international email connection via X.400 to Canada's University of 
British Columbia.  The cost is the fee for the leased line plus $0.09/min 
and $0.008/seg(64B) at 2400 or 4800 baud.  This connection is still in its 
"trial run" period and the current traffic volume is insignificant.

At TU, a menu-driven Chinese email system is developed in order to help 
non-computer, non-English users use email. TU is also leading the effort in 
multi-media research and development and specifically it is attempting to 
attach voice with email.

Among the three institutions within NCFC, Tsinghua University is most 
aggressive in commercializing its expertise in computer technology. 
Currently it has contracted to do domestic users training for MicroSoft and 
AT&T.  It also has turned some of its own research results into computer and 
network products.

The Institute of Science and Technology Information of China is under China 
Science and Technology Committee.  ISTIC has an VAX11/750 for Chinese 
database search.  It maintains research results, papers, patents, registered 
business names.  They charge businesses for joining the listing and charge 
users who use CNPAC or dial-in to do the search. The most popular database 
there is patents'.  But the search is slow and cannot accommodate many users 
at a time due to the limited computing power on the small VAX machine.  They 
are planning soon to upgrade the VAX to 6100.

ISTIC also has a database in English, on an IBM 4381.  But they have 
problems in connecting it to the network and the database is not complete, 
nor updated.  So users prefer to do searches outside the country via 
international connections, but CNPAC makes it very expensive.

A few days after my visit to ISTIC and discussions with Chief Engineer Lian 
Yachun, he invited me back to meet more officials and to give a talk on 
internet.  Present were the officals of ISTIC and of BTP; among them are 
Prof. Chen TongBao, director of New Technology Department, The Bureau of 
Scientific and Technical Information under State Science and Technology 
Commission of China; Liu Zhicai, Assistant Director, Division of Planning 
and Operation, ISTIC; Zuo Feng, Chief Engineer of Data Comminication 
Service, BTP and others.

Again, the same types of misinformation among ISTIC and BTP people regarding 
the U.S. permission to China-internet connection and NIC's functionalities 
etc. were cleared up through the talks.  I also learned more about CNPAC and 
its role in China's networking.

Since 1991, CNPAC has been installing 64k/128k links reaching some major 
cities like Beijing and Shanghai.  Currently there are eight major cities 
that can be reached via 64k links.  CNPAC plans to have 64k lines reaching 
every province by the end of 1993.

The BTP-charge for a leased line to connect to Internet in the U.S. is 
estimated at $5,000/month.

Unlike the U.S. carriers, CNPAC has the monopoly over general communications 
business in the country.  CNPAC is definitely trying to maintain its 
monopoly in future networking business too.  It likes to have all major 
routers under its control, and have everyone else connect only through it. 
To prevent routers outside CNPAC from becoming major or alternative routers, 
CNPAC will prohibit sharing on all lines not leased to CNPAC.  This is 
definitely unfair competition and CNPAC's monopoly will likely make 
networking too expensive to expand, and may hinder future network 
development in China.

All people present in the meeting at ISTIC, including people from BTP, think 
that high-level governmant leaders do not know what internet is and how 
beneficial it is to have its resources available via direct connection; and 
all agree that it is important to inform them.  I suggested to them that they 
call a meeting when a colleague of mine and computer network professional, 
Jian Ding visits Beijing in Mid-July, and have as many high-level officials 
as possible attend the meeting.  At that time Jian Ding can give a talk and 
demo on internet resources and usage.  This is one action item that resulted 
from this meeting.

One more thing I learned about network development in China is a project 
initiated by the Ministry of Electronics PRC, called EDI - Electronics Data 
Interchange.  EDI intends to build a commercial network in China with 
international connections.  Its major financing will come from commercial 
companies.  The feelings there are that this network may develop very quickly 
due to its strong financial backing.  Because of time constraints, I was not 
able to talk to the people in charge of EDI project and will have to leave it 
to Jian Ding to do so.

As the result of the trip, although there are difficulties, I feel that the 
time has come for China to soon become part of the internet community. 
Visits by network professionals between China and other countries act as the 
preliminary "internet connections" to China.  I'd like to thank all the 
people in the U.S. and in China who made my trip possible and fruitful!

Cindy Zheng 7/2/93