National Cybersecurity Center Map
By Dakota Cary and Jennifer Melot
China wants to be a “cyber powerhouse” (网络强国). At the heart of this mission is the sprawling 40 km2 campus of the National Cybersecurity Center (NCC), which is being built in Wuhan. The campus, which China began constructing in 2017 and is still building, includes seven centers for research, talent cultivation, and entrepreneurship; two government-focused laboratories; and a National Cybersecurity School. Collaboration on talent cultivation and innovation by government, academia, and the private sector will bolster China’s already potent cyber capabilities, making competition in the cyber domain fiercer still.
Scroll to explore the components of the NCC and their contribution to the overall mission. For an in-depth assessment of the NCC, see the CSET issue brief China's National Cybersecurity Center.
For feedback and assistance, thanks to John Bansemer, Kayla Goode, Hannah Stone, Jeffrey Ding, Emily Weinstein, Ryan Fedasiuk, Ben Murphy, Shelton Fitch, Scott Harold, Kady Arthur, Benjamin Pollack, Rebecca Gelles, Lynne Weil, Daniel Hague, Adrienne Thompson, Catherine Aiken, and Dewey Murdick. Image from Apollo Mapping. Last updated June 30, 2021.
The "leading mission" of the NCC, the National Cybersecurity School is currently a shared campus operated by Wuhan University and Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST). Policymakers originally intended to combine Wuhan University and HUST educational resources, but challenges with integration led to the current "partially independent, partially shared" model. Representatives from national and local government, the private sector, and "sponsoring units" conduct oversight, which may ensure the bifurcated institution meets its obligations to the central government.
Rather than teaching basic content, the school aims to ensure that the best and brightest of academia and the private sector are teaching promising students under government direction, with particular focus on practical skills, innovation, and entrepreneurship. To that end, the school counts training programs, competitions, published papers, inventions and patents obtained, and professional certificates towards degree credits. The school pays special attention to its doctoral program, providing a "strategic scientific" mentor and an "innovative entrepreneurship" mentor to help doctoral candidates conduct and monetize applied research.
More than RMB 2.6 billion has been invested in the National Cybersecurity School to date. Although its first graduating class includes only 1,300 students, CCP policymakers hope to increase that number to 2,500.
See page 17 of the report | |
Chinese-language video (bilibili.com) describing the National Cybersecurity School (see 0:54-1:39) |
The Talent Cultivation and Testing Center offers a broad range of cybersecurity training programs and certifications for students, cybersecurity professionals, and the general public. The center's programs are anchored by IntegrityTech and Qi'anxin Technology, two leading cybersecurity firms. Graduates may receive advance notice of job openings and preferential treatment in the hiring process at nearly 30 companies. The center is capable of training 6,000 people per month.
The Center hosts training programs for several different certifications, including:
See page 22 of the report |
Hongxin Semiconductors began constructing this factory to produce semiconductors in 2018. In early 2021, during construction of their fabricator, the company was exposed as fraudulent and collapsed into bankruptcy.
See page 39 of the report |
The Combined Cybersecurity Research Institute (网络安全联合研究院) is possibly an avenue for government-directed research on new cyber capabilities. Originally designed as a joint effort between Wuhan University and Qihoo360, it expanded to collaborate with 12 companies, including Beijing TopSec, which has trained People's Liberation Army hackers. Other companies include: 恒安嘉新、中科曙光、北京数字认证股份有限公司、技德科技.
See page 27 of the report |
Since opening in July 2019, the Exhibition and Conference Center has hosted several events, including signing ceremonies for new participants in the NCC; the opening of the “Yellow Crane Cup,” a cybersecurity competition; and a conference for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation's Information Security Working Group.
See page 30 of the report | |
Chinese-language video (bilibili.com) describing the Exhibition and Conference Center |
The Supercomputing and Big Data Center hosts 2000 servers, a 60,000-core vCPU, 8 petabytes (PB) of RAM, and 80PB of data storage. In aggregate, this is comparable to one Amazon Web Services Snowmobile.
See page 32 of the report | |
Chinese-language video (Baidu Haokan) describing the Supercomputing and Big Data Center (see 0:10-0:34) |
Once construction is completed, Data Valley’s total storage capacity will reach 10 exabytes and compute will reach 1 petaflop at a total investment of RMB 10.5 billion by Centrin Data Systems.
See page 34 of the report | |
Chinese-language video (Baidu Haokan) describing Data Valley (see 0:42-1:04) |
Led by Tsinghua University’s TUS Holdings, the Incubator is intended to help commercialize research and fund startups, particularly by students of the National Cybersecurity School. According to government announcements, more than 200 companies are involved with the Incubator.
The Technology Evaluation Center may provide security and defensive services for the Supercomputing and Big Data Center, the National Cybersecurity School, and laboratories. Although there are no public documents stating who runs the facility, it is likely run by its namesake organization, CNITSEC—also known as the 13th bureau of the Ministry of State Security.
Location unknown.
See page 30 of the report |
The Offense-Defense Lab likely is a facility for developing and testing new cyber tools for government use.
It is reported by provincial propaganda departments to be a network simulation center with three purposes: to host personnel training, to offer “real-world cyber combat” training (实战攻防演练), and to support research and innovation. But it is unclear who will receive training, what constitutes “real-world cyber combat,” and what research or innovation will be supported. Wuhan Anyu Information ( 武汉安域信息) invested RMB 20 million in outfitting the facility.
Past reporting indicates Wuhan University operates a similarly-named Cyber Offense-Defense Center (网络攻防中心) in collaboration with the PLA as of 2011.
Location unknown.
See page 26 of the report |
The center is run by the China Information Security Certification Center (ISCCC, 中国网络安全审查技术与认证中心) and is responsible for the certification of basic cybersecurity for products, licensed personnel, management systems, and information security services.
Location unknown.
See page 29 of the report |
The center is made up of two office buildings with 42 companies in residence.
Location unknown.
See page 31 of the report |