anhui gears up to lead in quantum tech and industry hubs
a view of the cas center for excellence in quantum information and quantum physics. (photo: vcg)
by chen chunyou & hong jingpu
quantum technology is the key to subverting the future industrial landscape. hefei city in anhui province in east china is speeding up the construction of a national quantum information sci-tech park for future industries, aiming to create internationally leading hubs for quantum technology and industry development.
relying on its sci-tech resource advantages, including the university of science and technology of china and the national laboratories based in hefei, the hefei high-tech zone (hhz), the core area for quantum industry development in the city, is focusing on fields such as quantum communication, quantum computing and quantum precision measurementto notch up more quantum sci-tech achievements and promote their industrial application.
researchers at the quantumctek science park in the hhz were busy with a new generation of kilobit superconducting quantum computing control system. they stood in front of a superconducting quantum computing control system with laptops, observing whether the system could accurately manipulate the quantum bits in the "brain" of the quantum computer and read microwave signals.
"compared with the previous generation of products, the density of integration of the new generation of equipment is about 10 times higher, and it is the smallest and best performance control system in china," li dongdong, a technical expert at quantumctek co., ltd. said.
currently, two office buildings in the hhz innovation industrial park are under renovation. they will be the headquarters of the qudoor company, which launched china's first modular ion trap quantum computing engineering machine, tiansuan 1, taking a crucial step for china's atomic quantum computing with breakthroughs in key technologies, laboratory r&d and prototype development,and product engineering.
"the two buildings are around 11,000 square meters. the hhz has allowed us to use them for free for five years," chen liuping, co-founder and chief technology officer of qudoor, said.
in order to attract more high-level quantum talent to work in hefei and create an environment that respects talent, the hhz has issued favorable policies and service guarantees for them vis-à-vis their children's schooling, medical treatment and academic leave, enabling them to take up residence and start businesses smoothly.
thanks to these favorable policies, many enterprises have settled down or established branches in the hhz, making it a national quantum information industry development cluster.
"the provincial and city-level science and technology authorities listed our company as one of the key industry chain enterprises for 2023 in the quantum field, and provided strong support for building industrial innovation research institute of quantum information," said wang zhen, deputy general manager of the china telecom quantum information technology group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of china telecom, established in hefei in 2023.
hefei makes the best use of this industrial advantage to promote high-quality development. there are 58 quantum enterprises in the hhz, including 25 core enterprises engaged in r&d and application of quantum key technologies, ranking first in the country, and 33 related quantum upstream and downstream enterprises, according to hhz officials.
