Research teams from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics (CEQIQP) and the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) have announced a few achievements in quantum hardware and communication. 

The most recent announcement came from a research team from the CAS CEQIQP that has successfully designed a programmable superconducting quantum processor with 66 qubits, named Zu Chongzhi-2. It is reportedly ten million times faster than the current fastest supercomputer and is capable of solving calculations that are one million times more complex than the one solved by Google’s Sycamore in 2019. 

Last week, a USTC research team established the world’s first integrated quantum communication network combining more than 700 optical fibers over a total distance of 4,600 kilometers for users across the country. 

Similar announcements have also been made in the past. In May 2021, a research team from USTC designed  Zu Chongzhi (with 62 qubits) which reportedly solved a complex calculation in just over an hour which would otherwise take more than eight years to complete using the most powerful classical computer. 

Simultaneously, a research team from USTC has designed a light-based (photonic) quantum computer prototype with 113 photons and 144 modes, called the Jiuzhang-2. It is reportedly tens of billions of times faster than a supercomputer in solving specific problems. This makes China the first country to achieve a quantum computational advantage in two major technical routes.