Quantum technology overcomes technical bottlenecks and enters the industrialization verification stage

With a 30 billion-year margin of error not exceeding 1 second, quantum technology is once again refreshing mankind’s timekeeping accuracy. This March, a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) achieved a 10^-19-level breakthrough in developing optical clocks, pushing the world’s time standards into the optical era. This new level of measurement precision opens the door to a series of cutting-edge applications.

A hundred years ago, physicists found that classical physics could not explain the micro world, and quantum mechanics emerged as the solution. Today, quantum technology is pushing past the limits of classical physics, redefining humanity’s computing ability, sensing accuracy, and information security.

As one of the six future industries listed in the “14th Five-Year Plan” outline, quantum technology is an important support for China to seize core discourse power in future science and technology and industry. Currently, China has achieved breakthroughs in all three main tracks of quantum technology: quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum precision measurement. Research institutions represented by USTC and the Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute, along with leading companies represented by Guodian Quantum, Origin Quantum, and Benyuan Quantum, have emerged; the overall pattern of an R&D cluster driving industrial development has taken shape.

However, for quantum technology to move from original breakthroughs in the lab to large-scale applications across the industrial chain, many gaps still need to be bridged. With concerted efforts from multiple parties, this campaign to tackle the toughest challenges is now moving toward a breakthrough.

Seizing the three core tracks

Quantum is the “smallest unit” that makes up the world’s energy. Scientists use quantum properties to reshape the macro world according to the laws of the micro world.

In the field of traditional computing, a bit is the smallest unit of information, consisting of two states—0 and 1. In the quantum world, however, qubits can exist simultaneously in superposition states of both 0 and 1, like a coin spinning that has both sides; multiple qubits form entanglement, which can be used for efficient coordinated computing; the total number of states for n qubits can reach 2 to the power of n, which can be used to enhance the dimension of computing power.

Across the three major core tracks of global quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum precision measurement, Chinese research institutions and companies have demonstrated hard-core strength comparable to the world’s top international level.

Quantum computing is widely recognized as the most difficult field in quantum technology. Its goal is to invent quantum computers—to perform computation tasks that classical computers cannot do—which is also the focus of major efforts by scientists in various countries and tech giants such as Microsoft and Google.

Origin Quantum, originating from the Key Laboratory of Quantum Information of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, successfully developed a superconducting quantum computer called “Benyuan Wukong,” equipped with a 72-qubit self-developed superconducting quantum chip. It is understood that “Benyuan Wukong” achieves software-hardware collaborative optimization through the “Benyuan Tianji” quantum measurement and control system, based on the quantum computer operating system “Benyuan Sinan.” Currently, it has been operating stably for more than two years, and has completed more than 800,000 quantum computation tasks for 163 countries and regions worldwide.

In the communications field, quantum key distribution has the characteristic that eavesdropping is detected as it happens, bringing communications into an absolute-security era. Known for quantum secure communication, Guodian Quantum relies on globally leading patent layouts in the quantum communication field and others, and has independently developed the fifth-generation quantum secure communication core equipment, helping to build major projects such as the world’s first 1,000-kilometer-class quantum secure communication “Jing-Jin Line,” the national wide-area quantum secure communication backbone network, and the “space-and-terrestrial integrated wide-area quantum secure communication network,” providing critical technical support for quantum communication to move from the lab to demonstration applications and large-scale deployment.

Origin Quantum focuses primarily on quantum precision measurement, and has independently developed high-end scientific instruments. A relevant company executive told Securities Times reporter that, taking the core component diamond quantum probe as an example, the probe tip diameter is only 500 nanometers—about 1/100 of a hair. This extremely tiny probe tip integrates an atomic-scale sensor with a scale of only about 0.5 nanometers. Just like a thermometer can sense human body temperature, if you want to “auscultate” individual cells and molecules, you need more microscopic and more sensitive measurement tools—this is where quantum instruments come into play. In 2018, Origin Quantum launched China’s first domestically produced commercial X-band electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometer, breaking the technical monopoly of overseas brands in one move and achieving an important breakthrough for the industrialization of China’s quantum precision measurement technology.

At present, China’s development landscape across the three major subfields of quantum technology varies: in quantum secure communication, China is at a globally leading position; in quantum computer research, China is advancing in step with the United States and is in the global first-tier lineup; in quantum precision measurement, China is locally leading in some segments, but it still lags behind developed countries in high-end scientific instruments and related areas.

Tackling technical bottlenecks

China’s high-end scientific instruments industry started relatively late. There are clear weaknesses in domestic industrialization of high-precision and advanced upstream components in the supply chain. Mid- to high-end quantum measurement complete systems have long been monopolized by international giants, and have even faced export controls and technological blockades imposed by Western countries. In addition, there is an extreme shortage of interdisciplinary high-end quantum talent who have both solid theoretical foundations and industrialization experience, which has become an important bottleneck restricting industrial development.

The harsh reality has forced Chinese companies to chart their own path. A relevant executive at Origin Quantum said that, to respond to external challenges, the company independently tackled and mastered foundational hard-core technologies such as “generating and controlling high-uniformity stable magnetic fields,” “spin-control microwave technology,” and “quantum sensor design and fabrication,” thereby enabling instruments to become independently controllable and effectively independent from core components to full system setups. At the same time, the company has set out a clear development plan: upstream, it will deepen local supply-chain collaboration, promote independent design and production of key components, and comprehensively enhance the autonomy and resilience of the supply chain; downstream, relying on “Quantum Instrument Valley” to advance the construction of a global application network, it will accelerate the industrialization and deployment of quantum technologies in fields such as industrial manufacturing, life and health, and energy.

Guodian Quantum’s deputy general manager, Zhou Lei, said that when lab technologies move to industrialization, the key lies in achieving independently controllable core components, and in promoting the engineeringization and scalable, reliable application of products. During the company’s development, it faced a series of challenges, including limited supply of core microcomponents, high difficulty in integrating end products, and complex networking engineering. Taking single-photon detectors as an example, in the early years, international products with high prices and low yield severely constrained the development of China’s quantum communication industry. In response to the passive situation of “chokepoints” in core components, Guodian Quantum worked with domestic leading units, and after more than a thousand rounds of experimental breakthrough efforts, developed domestically produced single-photon detectors whose performance is significantly better than that of similar international products. This series of products supports major projects such as the “Jing-Jin Line” and the “space-and-terrestrial integrated wide-area quantum secure communication network,” laying a solid foundation for the large-scale development of quantum communication.

In 2025, Guodian Quantum launched the world’s first four-channel deep-cooled single-photon detector. It refreshed world (600628) records on key indicators including detection efficiency, dark noise, and integration level. Its volume is only 1/9 of that of international products of the same type. Currently, the company’s independently developed series of single-photon detector products can meet the vast majority of single-photon detection application scenarios, providing cost-effective solutions for real-world applications such as ultra-long-distance quantum key distribution and single-photon imaging.

Thanks to the forward-looking planning of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology, the Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute began early to build capabilities in developing core quantum technology instruments such as electron lithography machines, cryogenic cold heads, and dilution refrigerators. Before foreign countries implemented technology bans and blockades against China, the relevant technologies had essentially been developed, successfully breaking through the overseas “chokepoint” blockade in technology.

“Laying eggs along the way” toward industrialization

In a certain quantum computing laboratory, the reporter saw a couplet: it read “Measuring data by cutting through thorns and brambles, developing core capabilities riding the wind and breaking waves,” and the horizontal scroll said “Never submit a retraction.” The reality is that, after China’s quantum computing has achieved breakthroughs in publishing core papers and overcoming technical bottlenecks, it still needs to move toward industrialization and commercialization.

Zhou Lei said that quantum technology’s development path is not the traditional route of pushing into the market after technical maturity; rather, it is a path of deep integration between research and industry, with innovation that “lays eggs along the way.”

“Laying eggs along the way” is a phrase used in the quantum technology industry. It means that during the process of climbing scientific peaks, phased technological achievements are promptly converted into product deployment. This “laying eggs along the way” model runs through three major fields of quantum communication, quantum computing, and quantum measurement—and it is also becoming the core path for quantum technology to move from the lab to the market over the coming period.

Yu Peng, the president of the Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told reporters that scientific instrument R&D must achieve mass production and industrialization (to truly realize value). In the past, many instrument R&D projects in many countries produced prototypes and then got shelved after passing acceptance checks, causing the technology to ultimately be lost. Given this, the Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute has its founding team composed of young talent from various R&D teams; each team established companies that focus on different core technologies and products to realize industrialization, and the related products have already begun to be sold on the market. In just the past year alone, the research institute incubated eight such technology companies, and companies such as Kun Teng Excellence have already demonstrated strong R&D capability and industrialization potential in the field of quantum computing hardware. The practice of the Shenzhen International Quantum Research Institute is a typical example of “laying eggs along the way.”

Currently, although some companies claim to have achieved industrialization breakthroughs, their overall foundation remains relatively weak. For example, most companies’ sales targets are mainly universities and research institutions, used for research purposes. The market scale for such scenarios is relatively small. In the future, it will still be necessary to further expand large-scale application scenarios such as civilian and industrial uses, so as to enable the industry to truly achieve a complete leap from the lab to the industrial chain.

Multiple industry insiders interviewed said that, at present, the technological development of quantum computing is far from the commercialization stage people imagine. Quantum computing is still a research instrument; it has not yet produced a new computing power that can be deployed, so it cannot directly provide practical services to enterprises. Its downstream customers are also limited to research institutes, universities, and a small number of innovative enterprises, mainly for technical trials and research. Except for achieving quantum advantage in a small number of mathematical problems specifically designed for quantum computers, the core task of quantum computing at this stage is still to catch up with classical computers.

“The short-term core goal of quantum computing companies is to survive—continuously accumulate technology, cultivate the market, and wait for both technology and the market to mature,” Yu Peng said. He believes quantum industry is a long-term track, while quantum computing needs a cultivation period of 5 to 10 years. He suggested maintaining high-intensity R&D investment, improving talent cultivation systems, strengthening coordination across the industrial chain, and guiding patient capital to lay out, so as to help China move from being a major country in quantum technology to a powerful country in quantum technology, and support the “14th Five-Year Plan” period in achieving the goals of “global leading quantum communication, practical breakthroughs in quantum computing, and large-scale applications of quantum measurement.”

(责任编辑：张岩)

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