Figure Credit: University of Science and Technology of China
By Amara Graps
New trends are appearing in China’s quantum technology strengths.
A Decade of Quantum Communication Leadership
For a decade, China has been a world leader in Quantum Communication-Networks, with a scorecard of successes, as seen in QCR’s article: Quantum Communication- Large Activity but Small Investments. For example, China operates the world’s largest QKD network, with an original 2000 km, longitudinal backbone, which connects metropolitan QKD networks. Its QKD networks, additionally, include hundreds of kilometers of transverse backbones, and two satellites, testing QKD capabilities in space.
In its research record, China’s decades of Quantum Communication focus was clearly visible in Scheidsteger et al, 2021’s Bibliometric Analysis, which surveys the Quantum Technology field via 54,598 (1980-2018) research papers from the Web of Science a) over time, b) by keyword and c) by countries. A co-occurrence map of the top 25 quantum research countries with at least 400 occurrences of those top keywords, can illustrate a country’s strengths. Using the authors’ live link, and pasting here, in the next Figure, you can see China’s research strengths in the years 1980-2018, where the Blue = QCOM (Quantum Communication and Cryptography).
Figure. A Visualization of the strengths of China’s Quantum Technology 2.0 + Q_OPTICS, separated into their classifications. Q_COMM, Q_INFO, Q_OPTICS, Q_METR, and Q_COMP from the live link inside Bibliometric Analysis by Scheidsteger et al, 2021.
Two surveys have captured the China’s expansion into other Quantum Technology realms. One by GQI+QuIC and one by QuIC.
China’s Quantum Strengths goes beyond Quantum Communication
In December 2023, Global Quantum Intelligence (GQI) with the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC) published: Quantum Tech in China, a nearly 80-page report that is the most comprehensive analysis of China’s quantum technology to date. It utilizes GQI’s Quantum State framework, and studies these four aspects:
- Government: national strategy, funding scheme and political will.
- Private Sector: enterprise companies, start-ups and investors.
- R&D: universities and institutes, scientific output and patents.
- Media and Public Engagement: news coverage, conferences and influencers
This study generated over 20,000 proprietary data points, thousands of papers, a dozen interviews with Chinese academics and stakeholders and concluded that China’s current quantum technology effort is to build a fully entangled quantum network, enabled with QPUs, quantum sensors, and QKD. Amongst the Report’s conclusions:
- Quantum Computing is now China’s largest effort (by R&D, investments, startups) out of the various QT applications
- China has implemented a universal quantum computer based on quantum gates
China’s Scientific Output Agreement
The pie chart in the figure below, illustrates the division into subdomains of >10K research publications related to quantum technologies, published in the last ~30 years. Quantum communication research covers approximately 27% (QKD+PQC+Networks)
Figure. Published Chinese Quantum Technology Research Papers divided in their sub-field domains. Source GQI and QuIC’s Quantum Tech in China, (*)
Patent Record
The Quantum Tech in China Report also highlights China’s expansion into quantum computing with Chinese companies’ domestic patent applications surging: Tencent (93 applications), Origin Quantum (234 applications), Baidu, Huawei, and Alibaba. Globally, China takes the number 2 spot for quantum technology patent filings. The patent period covers March 2015 to September 2023. In the next Figure, notice the steady growth of the quantum computing patents colored in green, proportionally to the quantum communication domain patents, colored in purple.
Figure. Patent Record from March 2015 to September 2023, divided in their sub-field domains. Source GQI and QuIC’s Quantum Tech in China, (*)
In January 2024, the European Quantum Industry Consortium (QuIC) published a Report: A Portrait of the Global Patent Landscape in Quantum Technologies, which produced bar charts listing the top global patent holders in various quantum technology subdomains. The patent period study included patent families with a first filing before 1 January 2022.
The QuIC report included a view into quantum technology subdomains with the name of the companies. For the Quantum Communication subdomain, the Chinese company: QuantumCTek dominated. For the Quantum Computer subdomain, the Chinese company: Origin – Benyuan dominated. The specialties of these two companies were already well-known, however, this report demonstrates their strong patent activities. I call Patents: ‘wishes’. Implementation is what matters. That leads us to the last data point, from QCR’s April 2024 news. We begin to see China’s merging of Quantum Communication and Quantum Computing.
Implementation of a 504-qubit Superconducting Quantum Computing chip for a Quantum Network
In April 2024, QuantumCTek Co., Ltd. received a 504-qubit superconducting quantum computing chip called “Xiaohong” from China’s Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics. This chip set a new qubit record in a superconducting quantum chip. QuantumCTek will test its independent kilo-qubit measurement and control system with Xiaohong. The chip’s importance in developing large-scale quantum computing measurement and control systems was prioritized by center researcher Gong Ming over processing power or quantum supremacy. QuantumCTek and China Telecom Quantum Group propose to provide global access to Xiaohong through a quantum computing cloud platform, enabling research across areas and expediting quantum computing application.
This is an important development. For those who are interested to follow QuantumCtek through the Patent records and official registrations, this will help.
- Chinese name: 科大国盾量子技术股份有限公司 Keda Guodun Quantum Technology Co., Ltd.
- Foreign name: QuantumCTek Co., Ltd.
- Alias: National Shield Quantum 国盾量子,
- Formerly: Anhui Quantum Communication Technology Co., Ltd.,
- The search engine Baidu can help you associate the names.
- Logo: Can help you identify this company.
(*) Quantum Tech in China by GQI and QuIC is a nearly 80-page report that is the most comprehensive analysis of China’s quantum technology to date. If you are interested to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected].
September 11, 2024
