Published : 2024-09-14

On September 14, 1987, China sent out its first email.

The first email from China was sent by the Institute for Computer Application of State Commission of Machine Industry (中國兵器工業計算機應用技術研究所) to its cooperative partner, the top European technical university, University of Karlsruhe in Germany, at 9:07 pm.

The email was written in English and German, with a subject line of "Across the Great Wall we can reach every corner in the world".

Former director of the institute Li Chengjiong recounts that since 1986, researchers had been working on design plans and experiments on a large-scale computer from Germany.

"At that time, the concept of the Internet did not exist. In terms of computer applications, developed countries were wary of us and did not open their important equipment or technology to us. The problem of incompatibility between computer software and hardware was very prominent."

By July 1987, Professor Werner Zorn from the University of Karlsruhe brought a compatible system software from Germany, and the institute finally met the technical conditions necessary to connect to the international network and send emails.

In the same year in September, the institute officially established the first international Internet email node in China.

The transmission speed of this email was extremely slow, initially only at a rate of 300 bits per second.

However, what is significant is that this email marked the beginning of Chinese people's use of the Internet.