The rapid expansion of the Internet and ever increasing of critical applications on the Internet are stimulating the research on the new information infrastructure. The grid, that is supposed to be the new generation information infrastructure, is attracting more and more attentions in both academic and industrial communities. A test-bed for grid technologies, the China National Grid (CNGrid), is currently supported by the China National High-tech R&D Program (the 863 program). This paperattempts to give an overview about the objective and major research activities of the CNGrid project. The current status and progress made are briefly reported. The prospective and further development efforts are also discussed.