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Chinese scientists make new breakthrough in quantum computing

China

China

China

Chinese scientists make new breakthrough in quantum computing

2025-03-04 17:32 Last Updated At:18:57

Chinese scientists unveiled a superconducting quantum computer prototype named Zuchongzhi 3.0 with 105 qubits on Monday, marking a breakthrough in China's quantum computing advancements.

The achievement also sets a new record in quantum computational advantage within superconducting systems.

Developed by a team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in collaboration with several domestic research institutions, Zuchongzhi 3.0 features 105 readable qubits and 182 couplers. It processes quantum random circuit sampling tasks at a speed quadrillion times faster than the world's most powerful supercomputer and 1 million times faster than Google's latest results published in Nature in October 2024.

Quantum computational advantage, also known as "quantum supremacy," refers to the point where quantum computers outperform the most advanced classical supercomputers in specific tasks. This milestone not only validates the feasibility of quantum computing but also serves as a direct indicator of a nation's research strength in this field.

Currently, China and the United States are the two global frontrunners in quantum computing research, with each country alternately achieving groundbreaking advancements.

In 2019 and 2020, the United States and China, respectively, launched their quantum computing prototypes, Sycamore and Jiuzhang, achieving quantum supremacy. In 2021, China successfully developed a 66-qubit programmable superconducting quantum computing system named Zuchongzhi 2.1, making it the first country to achieve a quantum computational advantage in two mainstream technical routes.

According to the research team, Zuchongzhi 3.0 significantly enhances key performance metrics compared with its predecessor, Zuchongzhi 2.1, achieving a globally leading level of quantum computational power.

"This machine has reached new heights in terms of readout precision and control precision of quantum computing," said Zhu Xiaobo, a professor of USTC, highlighting the prototype's advanced capabilities.

The study was published online in the journal Physical Review Letters. Peer reviewers praised the work, calling it "benchmarking a new superconducting quantum computer, which shows state-of-the-art performance" and "a significant upgrade from the previous 66-qubit device."

The global scientific community has outlined a three-step roadmap for experimental quantum computing development. The first step is achieving quantum supremacy; the second step involves developing quantum simulators with hundreds of controllable qubits to tackle real-world problems beyond the capabilities of supercomputers; and the third step focuses on substantially improving qubit control precision, integration scale and error correction to develop programmable, general-purpose quantum computers. Eventually such a machine could revolutionize artificial intelligence, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and national security.

"With gradual decrease of error rates, we can eventually achieve an extremely low error rate, paving the way for a fault-tolerant general quantum computer, which could fundamentally transform the entire landscape of information processing. It will also have a fundamental impact on national security, including artificial intelligence, biology, and pharmaceutical production," Zhu said. According to Zhu, the team is currently conducting surface code error correction research with a code distance of 7. After making progress, they will extend it to 9 and 11, paving the way for large-scale qubit integration and control.

The superconducting quantum computer is named after Zu Chongzhi (429-500),the renowned 5thcentury Chinese mathematician and astronomer.

Chinese scientists make new breakthrough in quantum computing

Chinese scientists make new breakthrough in quantum computing

Attempts to curb China's scientific and technological advancement are futile, a fact that has already been proven, said Kishore Mahbubani, former permanent representative of Singapore to the United Nations, in an interview aired Friday.

In an exclusive interview with China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing, Mahbubani said he had stated this position in one of his articles published in the United States.

"Actually, I published an article, you know the two, I guess two leading journals in the United States on international relations. One is Foreign Affairs and the other is Foreign Policy. And last year I co-authored an article with two other co-authors, saying that all the efforts to stop China's scientific and technological development will fail. And it has failed always. You know, for example, the Soviet Union tried to prevent the spread of nuclear technology to China, China develops its own. The United States didn't want to share its technology on international space station with China. China develops its own space station. So clearly, efforts to stop China in the area of scientific innovation and technological development have failed. And so it'd be wiser for the West, including United States, to work with China other than to try and stop China seek development," he said.

Regarding China's progress on robots, Mahbubani said China is leading the world in the sector and hopes the country will share its expertise with the rest of the world.

"If there's one country that is preparing for the future well, it is China, because one in six human beings in the world is Chinese. But one in three robots in the world is Chinese, and one in two baby robots being born every day is Chinese. So China is producing far more robots than any other country is. So clearly it's preparing for the world of the future when we will have, for example, labor shortages, as you know, as you develop an aging society. So China is wisely investing in robots. But I hope that China will also share its learning and expertise with other countries. Also because the robots like that can also be helpful even to developing countries cause you can enhance the productivity of their populations, of their factories and so on so forth. So the world should be happy that China is leading the world in manufacturing, producing robots," he said.

Attempts to stop China's sci-tech development doomed to fail: former Singaporean diplomat

Attempts to stop China's sci-tech development doomed to fail: former Singaporean diplomat

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