Abstract African swine fever (ASF), a highly contagious and lethal disease, poses a tremendous threat and burden to the swine industry worldwide. Lack of available vaccines or treatments leaves rapid diagnosis as the key tool to control the disease. Quantum dots (QDs) are unique fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles, highly versatile for biological applications. In this study, we developed a quantum dots-based fluorescent immunochromatographic assay (QDs-FICA) using CD2v as the diagnosis antigen to detect ASFV antibodies. The titre of the test strip was 1 : 5·12 × 105. In addition, the strip was highly specific to anti-ASFV serum and had no cross-reaction with CSFV, PPV, PRRSV, PCV-2, PRV and FMDV. Moreover, a comparative test of 71 clinical samples showed that the coincidence rate was 85·92% between the test strip and the commercial ELISA kit (coated with p30, p62 and p72). The QDs-FICA can be used to detect ASFV antibodies, which is meaningful for the surveillance, control and purification of ASF.