China has an undeniable lead in quantum networking technology – a state of affairs that should give the US pause, despite its lead in quantum computing.
So says think thank the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation (ITIF), which on Monday published a report titled “How Innovative Is China in Quantum?”
Its answer is “very” – at least when it comes to quantum communication, a field president Xi Jinping prioritized after the 2013 Snowden leaks so that Beijing can keep more of its secrets.
“Since then, China has been moving swiftly, solidifying its lead in the global race for secure communications, particularly in QKD [quantum key distribution], which is perhaps the most advanced subfield of secure communications, leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics to create a virtually unbreakable method of encrypting data,” the report states.
“China has the most ambitious demonstrations of this technology, namely through what is called the Beijing-Shanghai backbone, which is the longest QKD network in the world and stretches over 1,200 miles using fiber-optic cables,” the ITIF report adds. China also operates the “Micius” satellite that, according to the report, “demonstrated the potential to build a global quantum internet – a network that would use quantum technology to transmit information in a way that is far more secure than today’s internet, protecting data from being intercepted or tampered with.”
The report states that other nations can’t match China’s quantum comms capabilities, but the rest of the world is ahead in quantum computing.
“In hardware development, the United States has taken a commanding lead over China,” the report observes, calling out work on superconductors, and the ability to trap atomic ions in a vacuum to represent qubits, as fields in which the US leads the world.
The US and allied nations also excel at developing quantum algorithms – the foundation of software to run in quantum computers.
China has made some important advances on superconducting quantum chips, but trails badly on quantum algorithms.
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- NIST finalizes trio of post-quantum encryption standards
- Open source AI helped China catch up to the world, researchers reckon
The two superpowers are at roughly the same level of development in the field of quantum sensing – a tech that allows observation of minute events and is thought to be important in using quantum computers to help with tasks like developing new medicines or materials.
The report suggests that the state of quantum tech development reflects nations’ differing priorities.
China has focussed on tangible products and worked hard to get innovations out of the lab – often after government forges links between academia and industry.
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