https://www.scmp.com/rss/502675/feed Latest news, features and opinion on Quantum computing. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Chao Kong Chao Kong An AI computing centre capable of predicting weather patterns weeks in advance typically carries a price tag of US$100 million or more. Now, Chinese researchers say a small-scale quantum system can outperform such facilities at less than 1 per cent of the cost. The findings raise questions about the long-term economics of the global artificial intelligence infrastructure race. If compact quantum systems can deliver competitive performance in specific tasks, could today’s colossal data centres... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3349995/chinese-team-shows-quantum-tech-can-disrupt-ai-real-world-task?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3349995/chinese-team-shows-quantum-tech-can-disrupt-ai-real-world-task?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 06:00:14 +0000 Chao Kong Chao Kong Timing is everything in modern warfare, where even a nanosecond’s delay can make the difference between hitting or missing a target in a coordinated drone or missile attack. China may now have taken a major step forward in this field with the mass production of the world’s smallest atomic clock – something the researchers behind it say could transform drone warfare, underwater navigation and battlefield communication. Developed by a research team led by Professor Chen Jiehua from Wuhan... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347000/why-tiny-atomic-clocks-may-hold-key-china-mass-producing-cheap-swarm-drones?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3347000/why-tiny-atomic-clocks-may-hold-key-china-mass-producing-cheap-swarm-drones?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 04:00:09 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng Chinese scientists have cracked a long-standing puzzle in quantum optics, creating a tiny device that spits out pairs of light particles on demand with unprecedented purity and efficiency – with potential implications for the quantum race. Single-photon devices are maturing rapidly, but the field is now pursuing efficient two-photon sources that can pave the way for sharper medical imaging, unbreakable encryption and next-generation sensors. In precision measurement, for instance, using two... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345508/quantum-tech-breakthrough-chinas-double-photon-device-breaks-efficiency-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3345508/quantum-tech-breakthrough-chinas-double-photon-device-breaks-efficiency-ceiling?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 06:30:08 +0000 Andy Xie Andy Xie The rise of Chinese research labs is accelerating tech breakthroughs across a broad array of fields. It is leading to a new era of abundance based on cheap energy, new materials and their applications. The US-led tech embargo against China helped jump-start its investment in research. Breakthroughs are accelerating and being turned into efficient scale production. This could be the most important dynamic in shaping the 21st century. China solved its food self-sufficiency problem in the 1980s... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3343821/how-chinas-research-prowess-will-shape-course-21st-century?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3343821/how-chinas-research-prowess-will-shape-course-21st-century?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 21:30:09 +0000 Jevans Nyabiage Jevans Nyabiage The route to challenging China’s supremacy in rare earth minerals lies in using artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing to create synthetic substitutes or alloys, according to a prominent American expert in AI. Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, an AI and quantum technology Alphabet spin-off, said these technologies could cut the time required to secure critical materials to just a few years. This could bypass the traditional 10 to 20 years needed to bring a new mine online while also... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343609/could-us-unlock-chinas-rare-earths-grip-ai-and-quantum-computing?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3343609/could-us-unlock-chinas-rare-earths-grip-ai-and-quantum-computing?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Feb 2026 10:00:08 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong Chinese researchers say they have found a viable pathway to building long-distance quantum communication networks. In a study published this week in Nature, a team from Peking University said it had developed a prototype networking capacity that could communicate over distances of more than 3,700km (2,300 miles). Quantum key distribution (QKD) is regarded as the gold standard for secure communication – any attempt at eavesdropping inevitably leaves detectable traces, regardless of distance or... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343417/chinese-scientists-find-path-long-distance-quantum-communications-network?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3343417/chinese-scientists-find-path-long-distance-quantum-communications-network?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Feb 2026 05:00:27 +0000 Malaika Thiam-Bockman Malaika Thiam-Bockman The United States has been constructing a new dimension of its economic security policy: outbound investment rules. Since January last year, Washington has not only established its first outbound investment screening programme but codified it into law and explicitly provided for its expansion. These rules are gaining teeth, giving rise to a compliance architecture that conditions US foreign direct investment on national security priorities. As firms begin to operationalise these rules, capital... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3342148/beyond-china-asia-will-bear-brunt-us-builds-walls-around-tech-capital?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3342148/beyond-china-asia-will-bear-brunt-us-builds-walls-around-tech-capital?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Feb 2026 12:30:38 +0000 Themis Qi Themis Qi Hong Kong’s banking regulator has unveiled four flagship projects, including a quantum computing readiness index, to help the city’s lenders stay competitive and secure in the artificial intelligence era. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) said the initiatives formed part of its new Fintech Promotion Blueprint, aimed at guiding responsible innovation and preparing the city’s banking sector for rapid technological change. The blueprint was announced on Tuesday in response to industry... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3342268/hkma-launches-quantum-readiness-and-cybersecurity-projects-banks-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3342268/hkma-launches-quantum-readiness-and-cybersecurity-projects-banks-ai-era?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:31:41 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong The shortest wavelength of a laser beam generated from a crystal has been realised in a laboratory at the Xinjiang Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, according to a new paper. At 158.9 nanometres (nm), it leads to all-solid-state lasers with the highest output energy recorded. The all-solid-state solution offers a desktop-scale size, lower cost, easier maintenance and performance equal to room-sized laser systems, such as those based on gas plasma and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342103/chinas-first-kind-abf-crystal-creates-most-energised-solid-state-laser-beam?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3342103/chinas-first-kind-abf-crystal-creates-most-energised-solid-state-laser-beam?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Feb 2026 13:00:13 +0000 Wang Wen Wang Wen After a year of Trump 2.0, China has much to be thankful for. This is not an endorsement of US hegemony but an expression of confidence in China’s increased resilience – and an acknowledgement of the US policies that pushed China there. The Chinese government’s stance towards Trump 2.0 remains the same: to adhere to its own principles, respond rationally and look to turn any crisis into an opportunity. For a start, Trump 2.0’s tariff war on China has backfired. All it did was force China to... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3340739/how-trump-20-accelerated-chinas-push-tech-and-trade-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3340739/how-trump-20-accelerated-chinas-push-tech-and-trade-resilience?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 Jan 2026 12:30:08 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial In the past, thought experiments aimed to illuminate natural phenomena, but because of technological limitations, these experiments could not be carried out in laboratories. Technical advances have made some such old ideas testable. Scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China have carried out a thought experiment proposed by Albert Einstein at the legendary 1927 Solvay Conference to determine if a particle’s path and its wavelike interference pattern could be observed... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3336022/china-no-longer-follower-race-quantum-supremacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3336022/china-no-longer-follower-race-quantum-supremacy?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 23:15:11 +0000 Frank Wilczek Frank Wilczek In the eighth instalment of his exclusive series for the South China Morning Post, American theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate Frank Wilczek explores the big world manifestation of small world quantum mechanics. Read his previous articles here. The Nobel Prize in Physics for 2025 was awarded to John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”. The trio collaborated on a series of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3334305/nobel-prize-physics-proves-big-things-can-be-quantum-too?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3334305/nobel-prize-physics-proves-big-things-can-be-quantum-too?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Nov 2025 10:00:14 +0000 Avi Jorisch Avi Jorisch History rarely announces its turning points. More often, we wake up to find that the world we assumed was fixed has begun to shift beneath our feet. That is happening now. Artificial intelligence, quantum technologies and space infrastructure are advancing at a pace that stretches our political instincts – even our imagination. Each is transformative on its own. Together, they are becoming the new architecture of global power, an engine that will determine which nations shape the century ahead... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333993/how-ai-quantum-and-space-technologies-will-define-asian-century?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/asia-opinion/article/3333993/how-ai-quantum-and-space-technologies-will-define-asian-century?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Nov 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Dannie Peng Dannie Peng China has achieved a massive leap in computing power, spearheaded by a new optical quantum chip capable of accelerating complex problem-solving by over a thousandfold. The photonic quantum chip won the “Leading Technology Award” at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit last week – one of 17 scientific achievements honoured from more than 400 candidates across 34 countries at the technology gathering. The chip, which is intended to boost efficiency for AI data centres and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332604/quantum-chip-gives-chinas-ai-data-centres-1000-fold-speed-boost-award-winning-team?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3332604/quantum-chip-gives-chinas-ai-data-centres-1000-fold-speed-boost-award-winning-team?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 13 Nov 2025 14:00:13 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong Chinese scientists have made a “historic leap” in developing a chip that can cope with extreme levels of radiation. The Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chip has a wide range of potential uses, including satellite command and control systems, spaceborne computers and weapons systems. Its hardware can be reconfigured after manufacturing to perform a wide variety of specific tasks. This flexibility makes FPGAs useful for custom computing applications and electronic systems that may need to be... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331503/historic-leap-chinese-team-creates-worlds-first-2d-industrial-chip-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3331503/historic-leap-chinese-team-creates-worlds-first-2d-industrial-chip-military-use?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 14:00:22 +0000 Meredith Chen,Liu Zhen Meredith Chen,Liu Zhen China should more actively pursue the global lead in quantum governance to secure a strategic edge, an influential mainland think tank has urged, as dual-use quantum tech emerges as an increasingly important front in the country’s wide-ranging rivalry with the United States. China could also diversify its technological partnerships by deepening cooperation with EU countries and the United Arab Emirates, according to Grandview Institution, as the country prepares for its next five-year... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3331377/china-must-more-actively-seek-global-lead-quantum-race-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3331377/china-must-more-actively-seek-global-lead-quantum-race-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Nov 2025 02:00:11 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji Swathes of Asia’s financial systems are vulnerable to potential disruption from quantum computing technology, including those hosting secure transactions, industry executives have warned. Only a handful of major economies in the region, such as China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore, have embarked on strategies to safeguard their systems, but most financial institutions across the region are vulnerable to quantum attacks because they are ill prepared, experts say. The threat looms even as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330673/quantum-computing-threat-looms-over-asias-financial-systems-we-are-not-secure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3330673/quantum-computing-threat-looms-over-asias-financial-systems-we-are-not-secure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Oct 2025 02:08:11 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo China and the United States are locked in a contest for technological supremacy. While it’s impossible to predict the ultimate winner and loser, this year’s Nobel Prize winners in economics may serve as a useful guide to where the two rivals are heading. The US is currently still ahead when it comes to science and technology. But when it comes to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, China has a clear edge, which is likely to grow even larger in the coming... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3329729/nobel-laureates-show-us-cant-take-tech-lead-over-china-granted?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3329729/nobel-laureates-show-us-cant-take-tech-lead-over-china-granted?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Oct 2025 01:30:09 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Chinese researchers are at the forefront of developments in quantum computing, a superfast processing technology that could help to solve seemingly intractable challenges such as nuclear fusion and climate change. Origin Quantum has already used quantum computing in breast cancer mammography screening, producing high-dimensional medical imaging data “exponentially faster” than traditional computers and paring false-positive rates. The Hefei-based company has also used the technology in... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3329772/chinese-quantum-computer-cracks-billion-year-problems-seconds?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3329772/chinese-quantum-computer-cracks-billion-year-problems-seconds?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 Oct 2025 08:15:11 +0000 Genevieve Donnellon-May Genevieve Donnellon-May Could China’s new K visa reshape the global competition for top talent? Beijing certainly aims to do just that. Officially rolled out this month, the visa is aimed at young foreign professionals in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. It targets graduates and professionals with at least a bachelor’s degree in STEM from recognised institutions or engaged in relevant education or research. Unlike other Chinese visas for employment or research, the K visa does not... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3328850/how-china-can-position-its-k-visa-success-race-global-tech-talent?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3328850/how-china-can-position-its-k-visa-success-race-global-tech-talent?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Oct 2025 21:30:09 +0000 Massoud Amin Massoud Amin Donald Trump’s return to the presidency didn’t just shift US politics. It triggered a systemic stress test of the American republic. Constitutional, strategic, technological, fiscal and civic stabilisers are under simultaneous strain. Whether the United States adapts or drifts will shape the character of its institutions for decades. The most visible stress is constitutional. Early directives concentrated authority in the executive branch. Oversight officials have been removed, independent... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328276/will-us-republic-survive-stress-test-trumps-presidency?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3328276/will-us-republic-survive-stress-test-trumps-presidency?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Oct 2025 12:30:15 +0000 Jane Cai,Zhang Tong Jane Cai,Zhang Tong Shing-Tung Yau, one of the world’s most influential mathematicians, is chair of Tsinghua University’s Qiuzhen College, which is fast-tracking talented young students through a programme of his own design. Born in the southern province of Guangdong and educated in Hong Kong and the United States, the 76-year-old shares his ideas on science and education, key to China’s 15th five-year plan (2026-2030), which is expected to focus on the development of an innovation-driven economy. Speaking solely... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3328359/top-mathematician-chinas-talent-gap-role-pure-science?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3328359/top-mathematician-chinas-talent-gap-role-pure-science?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Oct 2025 08:35:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Briton John Clarke, Frenchman Michel Devoret and American John Martinis won the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday for work on quantum physics in action, the Nobel jury said. The trio was honoured “for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit”, the jury said. Quantum mechanics describes how differently things work on incredibly small scales. For example, when a normal ball hits a wall, it bounces back. But on the quantum scale, a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328132/nobel-prize-physics-awarded-clarke-devoret-martins-quantum-mechanics-discoveries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3328132/nobel-prize-physics-awarded-clarke-devoret-martins-quantum-mechanics-discoveries?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 10:00:48 +0000 Syed Munir Khasru Syed Munir Khasru The revival of techno-nationalism is reshaping strategies across continents. The European Union has embraced technological sovereignty with the EU Chips Act and investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology. Japan and South Korea are diversifying supply chains and boosting domestic capacity. India is positioning itself as an alternative hub through the Make in India and Digital India initiatives, aimed at reducing reliance on both China and the West. Export controls,... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323778/techno-nationalism-now-critical-battlefront-geopolitics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3323778/techno-nationalism-now-critical-battlefront-geopolitics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Sep 2025 12:30:08 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin A strange thing happened when a team of scientists folded a series of ultra-thin sheets of graphene in their laboratory in China. The researchers from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics found that friction did not increase as the material got thicker. In fact, some of the thicker folds slid more easily. The revelation was a bonus for the team – not only had they become the first to directly observe friction between solid materials at the quantum level, they had seen something that could... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3319438/first-chinese-team-captures-rare-quantum-friction-effect-folded-graphene?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3319438/first-chinese-team-captures-rare-quantum-friction-effect-folded-graphene?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 25 Jul 2025 02:00:15 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin China is developing the world’s first high-orbit quantum communication satellite to enable more efficient, globally accessible quantum networks and lay the groundwork for redefining the international standard of the second, according to Pan Jianwei, the country’s “father of quantum”. Set to launch around 2027, the satellite will operate in geostationary orbit more than 35,000km (21,700 miles) above the Earth, Pan revealed during a pre-recorded keynote speech at a conference in Germany this month... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315963/new-dawn-pan-jianwei-reveals-high-orbit-quantum-satellite-global-network?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315963/new-dawn-pan-jianwei-reveals-high-orbit-quantum-satellite-global-network?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 26 Jun 2025 12:00:12 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong Chinese researchers have developed the first highly parallel optical computing integrated chip, named “Meteor-1”, setting a milestone for using light to perform an enormous number of operations at the same time, the scientists say. The advance promises hardware acceleration for AI and data centres struggling with soaring computational demands. The chip achieves a theoretical peak computing power of 2,560 TOPS (tera-operations per second) at 50GHz optical frequency – performance comparable to... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315496/light-us-sanctions-china-unveils-first-parallel-optical-computing-chip-meteor-1?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315496/light-us-sanctions-china-unveils-first-parallel-optical-computing-chip-meteor-1?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Jun 2025 04:00:12 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela Researchers in China said they have found the first evidence that subatomic particles from cosmic rays may be affecting the efficiency of widely used error correction techniques that are an essential element of fault-tolerant quantum computing. The scientists monitored superconducting quantum chips alongside fundamental subatomic particles – called muons – produced by cosmic rays, as well as gamma ray-induced particle disturbances known as quasiparticle bursts. “We directly observed... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315446/gods-play-chinese-scientists-catch-cosmic-rays-meddling-quantum-computer-operation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3315446/gods-play-chinese-scientists-catch-cosmic-rays-meddling-quantum-computer-operation?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jun 2025 08:00:07 +0000 Ann Cao Ann Cao An institute affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University has commenced production of photonic chips, marking a milestone in China’s semiconductor sector and providing a boost to the country’s quantum computing capabilities in spite of increased US export controls. The Chip Hub for Integrated Photonics Xplore (CHIPX), located in Wuxi in eastern Jiangsu province, now produces 6-inch thin-film lithium niobate photonic chip wafers, according to local authorities. The development underscores... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3313858/tech-war-chinese-institute-begins-photonic-chip-production-despite-us-curbs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3313858/tech-war-chinese-institute-begins-photonic-chip-production-despite-us-curbs?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Jun 2025 11:00:16 +0000 Holly Chik Holly Chik The United States continued to lead China in critical technologies, namely artificial intelligence (AI), biotechnology, semiconductors, space and quantum, according to a report released on Thursday by Harvard University. The authors of the Critical and Emerging Technologies Index, released by the university’s Belfer Centre for Science and International Affairs, said the US maintained its competitive edge because of large-scale American public and private investment, a top-notch and diverse... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3313212/us-still-reigns-over-china-tech-race-gaps-are-quickly-closing-harvard-report?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3313212/us-still-reigns-over-china-tech-race-gaps-are-quickly-closing-harvard-report?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Jun 2025 12:00:15 +0000 Wenran Jiang Wenran Jiang In a stark turn of events, US President Donald Trump has accused China of “totally violating” the Geneva trade agreement. The May 12 deal, which slashed US tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 per cent to 30 per cent and Chinese tariffs on US goods from 125 per cent to 10 per cent, was touted by Trump as a triumph of American diplomacy. Within weeks, however, Trump reversed course, his administration accusing China of failing to resume rare earth exports as promised. Beijing vehemently denies any... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3312776/us-china-rivalry-morphing-multifront-war-no-easy-way-out?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3312776/us-china-rivalry-morphing-multifront-war-no-easy-way-out?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Jun 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Victoria Bela Victoria Bela China has released an action plan for “disruptive technological innovation” in metrology – the scientific study of measurement – within the next five years. The 2030 action plan, released by the State Administration for Market Regulation, focuses on breakthroughs in chip technology and quantum-scale measurement, both critical to a wide range of industries. According to a report by ministry newspaper Science and Technology Daily last week, the plan targets tackling several “pain points” or... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3312641/china-targets-chip-quantum-advances-2030-metrology-action-plan-tech-race-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3312641/china-targets-chip-quantum-advances-2030-metrology-action-plan-tech-race-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 01 Jun 2025 10:00:28 +0000 Bochen Han,Zhao Ziwen Bochen Han,Zhao Ziwen A senior US congressional Democrat influential on China and tech policy criticised US President Donald Trump’s administration for its rescission of an AI diffusion rule on Friday, calling the move a “horrible idea” that would ultimately benefit China. “They’re rescinding prohibitions on whom we can sell the most advanced semiconductor chips to in the world, and one of them is in the Middle East,” said US congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, an Illinois Democrat and ranking member of the House Select... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3310730/senior-us-democrat-slams-reversal-ai-rule-horrible-idea-helping-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3310730/senior-us-democrat-slams-reversal-ai-rule-horrible-idea-helping-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 16 May 2025 21:39:58 +0000 Massoud Amin Massoud Amin American dominance in science and innovation was not inevitable. It was a deliberate, strategic achievement born of open borders, inclusive institutions and forward-looking investment in education and research. That edge, forged over a century, is eroding – quietly but rapidly threatening the foundations of US leadership worldwide. In today’s polarised national discourse, headlines focus on tariffs, immigration and the culture wars. But behind the noise lies a far more consequential trend: the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3310036/trumps-attack-science-risks-dismantling-century-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3310036/trumps-attack-science-risks-dismantling-century-innovation?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 May 2025 12:30:10 +0000 Stanley Chao Stanley Chao On April 2, US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on virtually every country, friends and foes alike. The purported goal was to revitalise domestic manufacturing and create millions of high-paying American jobs. In the Rose Garden, Trump dubbed it “Liberation Day”, to “forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn”. Nearly a month later, it appears Trump’s words have no more staying power than his Liberation Day tariffs, most of which he later postponed. The real... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3308505/trump-cannot-look-past-make-us-manufacturing-great-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3308505/trump-cannot-look-past-make-us-manufacturing-great-again?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 May 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Igor Patrick Igor Patrick America must re-industrialise and cut its reliance on China in critical technologies such as semiconductors, 6G and quantum computing, US President Donald Trump’s nominee for deputy secretary of commerce told senators on Thursday. Paul Dabbar’s confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation came as bipartisan efforts mount in Washington to limit Beijing’s influence over global supply chains and emerging technologies. With China expanding its dominance in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3308742/us-must-re-industrialise-cut-china-tech-reliance-says-trumps-pick-no-2-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3308742/us-must-re-industrialise-cut-china-tech-reliance-says-trumps-pick-no-2-commerce?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 May 2025 19:54:22 +0000 Xinmei Shen Xinmei Shen Chinese quantum computing firm Origin Quantum has successfully applied its advanced technology in several biomedical fields, including breast cancer treatment, in a sign of progress towards commercialisation. The Hefei-based company, which is backed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has demonstrated the viability of its Origin Wukong quantum computer in biomedical applications such as breast cancer mammography screening and small molecule drug design, according to a report by the state-run... https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3308242/chinese-quantum-computing-firm-tackles-breast-cancer-screenings-drug-design?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/article/3308242/chinese-quantum-computing-firm-tackles-breast-cancer-screenings-drug-design?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 28 Apr 2025 13:00:13 +0000 Zhang Tong Zhang Tong While the battle for high ground in artificial intelligence (AI) dominates global headlines, a team of Chinese researchers has announced a major advance in the field of quantum cryptology – a race in which the stakes could be even higher. Professor Wang Chao, of Shanghai University, has successfully factored a 90-bit RSA integer using a D-Wave Advantage quantum computer – an achievement that not long ago was thought to be impossible. Quantum cryptology studies the art of writing or solving codes... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307487/china-cracks-another-quantum-code-barrier-how-much-longer-our-data-safe?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307487/china-cracks-another-quantum-code-barrier-how-much-longer-our-data-safe?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2025 12:08:25 +0000 Chow Chung-yan Chow Chung-yan Dear friends, This month marks the third anniversary of our small but dynamic science reporting team. To celebrate, I’d like to share a story with you. In 2014 – a year after Edward Snowden’s exclusive interview with the South China Morning Post – we published a follow-up. Our science reporter, Stephen Chen, wrote that China was developing a “hack-proof” quantum communication network that would revolutionise encryption. The story was met with scepticism. Few people knew what quantum... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307160/science-fiction-reality-charting-unexplored-aspect-chinas-rapid-rise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3307160/science-fiction-reality-charting-unexplored-aspect-chinas-rapid-rise?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 20 Apr 2025 01:00:22 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin Chinese researchers say they have achieved a global first in using a real quantum computer to fine-tune an artificial intelligence (AI) model with 1 billion parameters, showing the potential of quantum computing to help better train large language models. Using Origin Wukong, China’s third-generation superconducting quantum computer with 72 qubits, a team in Hefei has achieved an 8.4 per cent improvement in training performance while reducing the number of parameters by 76 per cent, state-owned... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3305761/first-encounter-chinese-ai-meets-quantum-power-and-gets-smarter-faster?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3305761/first-encounter-chinese-ai-meets-quantum-power-and-gets-smarter-faster?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Apr 2025 04:00:09 +0000 Earlier this month, a research team from China’s University of Science and Technology officially published findings on Zuchongzhi 3.0, a 105-qubit quantum computer that performed benchmark tasks one million times faster than Google’s latest published quantum computing results. Just months earlier, Google’s Willow processor had completed a problem in five minutes that would take today’s fastest supercomputers 10 septillion years. These breakthroughs aren’t just engineering triumphs – they signal... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303736/why-major-powers-race-quantum-supremacy-inspires-awe-and-fear?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3303736/why-major-powers-race-quantum-supremacy-inspires-awe-and-fear?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 29 Mar 2025 21:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Quantum computing start-up PsiQuantum is raising at least US$750 million at a US$6 billion pre-money valuation, according to two people familiar with the matter. BlackRock was leading the fundraising effort, which had not yet been completed, one of the people said. Unlike some quantum computing start-ups using exotic materials, PsiQuantum is aiming to modify traditional manufacturing techniques from the semiconductor industry. The company uses existing photonics technology – the same kind of... https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3303720/us-start-psiquantum-raising-us750-million-quantum-computing-race-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/tech-trends/article/3303720/us-start-psiquantum-raising-us750-million-quantum-computing-race-sources-say?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Mar 2025 03:15:09 +0000 Nvidia will open a quantum computing research lab in Boston, where it plans to collaborate with scientists from Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on Thursday. Huang made the announcement at Nvidia’s annual software developer conference in San Jose, California, where Nvidia held a day of events focused on quantum computing. Nvidia added the programme after Huang in January said useful quantum computers are 20 years away, comments he... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3303224/nvidia-open-quantum-computing-lab-boston-says-ceo-jensen-huang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3303224/nvidia-open-quantum-computing-lab-boston-says-ceo-jensen-huang?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Mar 2025 18:24:18 +0000 A senior Democrat influential on China policy praised US President Donald Trump’s welcoming stance on H-1B visas, relied upon by many technology companies, calling them necessary to keep America’s competitive edge. Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, has strongly backed boosting the US position in critical and emerging technologies, including quantum computing. “I’m glad that President Trump said that he believes … in H-1Bs, which... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3302145/us-needs-h-1b-visas-tech-race-china-says-key-democrat-who-glad-trump-agrees?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3302145/us-needs-h-1b-visas-tech-race-china-says-key-democrat-who-glad-trump-agrees?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Mar 2025 22:02:01 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Amazon.com’s cloud unit has built its first quantum-computing chip, joining a growing roster of technology companies showing off futuristic hardware. Alphabet’s Google and Microsoft in the last two months have announced their own quantum hardware, suggesting that the powerful form of computing – currently relegated to science experiments – may solve real problems in the coming years. Others said useful quantum computers, which might enable advances in chemistry or healthcare, were more than a... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3300464/amazon-web-services-unveils-ocelot-quantum-computing-chip-after-google-microsoft?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3300464/amazon-web-services-unveils-ocelot-quantum-computing-chip-after-google-microsoft?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 28 Feb 2025 03:00:16 +0000 Chinese scientists have set a transmission record in quantum secure direct communication, which brings the technology to the internet dial-up speed of the 1990s and sets the stage for a future quantum internet. The team’s new quasi-quantum secure direct communication (QSDC) protocol set both a transmission and a distance world record with a transmission rate of 2.38 kilobits per second (kbps) over 104.8km (65 miles) of standard telecommunications optical fibre. This speed allows for the secure... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3300013/back-future-record-chinese-transmission-lays-ground-future-quantum-internet?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3300013/back-future-record-chinese-transmission-lays-ground-future-quantum-internet?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 25 Feb 2025 05:33:08 +0000 Ling Xin Ling Xin The global race for quantum supremacy has intensified, with research teams from China and the United States announcing major achievements in this week’s edition of the prestigious peer-reviewed journal Nature. While Peking University researchers unveiled the world’s first large-scale quantum entanglement on an optical chip, a Microsoft team claimed to have created topological qubits – often regarded as a “holy grail” for the technology’s development. The Chinese study used light to generate and... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3299670/china-us-chip-war-takes-quantum-leap-breakthroughs-declared-same-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3299670/china-us-chip-war-takes-quantum-leap-breakthroughs-declared-same-day?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:01:53 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Microsoft on Wednesday announced its first quantum computing chip, a major step in the company’s effort to produce devices that might someday solve problems beyond the reach of modern computers. The company said its Majorana 1 chip harnessed 8 qubits, the building blocks of quantum computing, on a sticky-note-sized piece of hardware it figured could eventually host 1 million of them. Right now, the chip is capable of little more than solving maths problems that prove it can be controlled, but... https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3299393/microsoft-unveils-first-quantum-chip-uses-majorana-particles-instead-electrons?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3299393/microsoft-unveils-first-quantum-chip-uses-majorana-particles-instead-electrons?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Feb 2025 04:05:56 +0000 SCMP will report on the inauguration day of US president-elect Donald Trump live from 12am Tuesday HKT. The live blog will be made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing. Get faster notifications on the latest updates by downloading our app. When Donald Trump is sworn in as the 47th president of the United States on Monday, a new chapter of geopolitical uncertainty will be written, potentially ushering in an intensified... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3295285/donald-trumps-inauguration-us-china-rivalry-opens-new-and-uncertain-chapter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3295285/donald-trumps-inauguration-us-china-rivalry-opens-new-and-uncertain-chapter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Jan 2025 01:00:18 +0000 Imagine a world where encrypted data is no longer secure, medical advancements are accelerating and governments compete for power in an unseen realm. The race for quantum supremacy is not science fiction but rather the most critical battleground of our time. At the heart of this contest are China and the United States, which are investing billions to secure quantum supremacy. The stakes extend far beyond scientific innovation, dictating the future of national security, economic power and global... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3294055/why-us-china-quantum-race-most-critical-contest-our-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3294055/why-us-china-quantum-race-most-critical-contest-our-time?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Jan 2025 08:30:09 +0000