by RT [3-14-2025 published].

(I've included this article & 4 additional articles about quantum computing for several reasons. First, a lot of people in the US outside of the quantum computing field still don't understand how advanced China has become in many of the high technology fields. As you can see here, China has demonstrated advanced capabilities on par with the best in the United States and more advanced in some areas. Second, quantum computers can tackle some very complex problems that are out of reach for even the fastest super computers. On the other hand, classical & super computers are much better at a wide range of computational needs. With the relatively small number of qubits in today's quantum computers, I'm still not sure what real problems can be handled with them. Exactly what complex computations are being handled by todays quantum computers is beyond the scope of this series of articles. For those of you interested, you can follow some of the referenced links and do additional research on that topic. — RAD)

The Zuchongzhi-3 chip vastly outperforms Google’s Sycamore chip, according to its creators.

Chinese scientists have unveiled a new superconducting quantum computing prototype they say operates a million times faster than one of Google’s top quantum processors. The Chinese chip is also a quadrillion times more efficient than any conventionally built supercomputer, according to a statement issued by its creators.

Dubbed Zuchongzhi-3, the chip was developed by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in cooperation with half a dozen of the nation’s scientific institutions. The USTC published the results of its research and the chip’s performance analysis in an article for the Physical Review Letters earlier this month.

According to the university’s statement, the testing showed that the new Chinese processor is a million times faster than Google’s Sycamore processor. The US tech giant presented its quantum computer back in October 2024, boasting that it could surpass the fastest conventional supercomputers in performing computationally complex calculations.

“We are focused on developing practical applications for quantum computers that cannot be done on a classical computer,” Google Quantum AI representatives said at the time. The USTC said in its statement that Zuchongzhi-3’s computational speed outpaced that of the world's most powerful supercomputer by 15 orders of magnitude (a quadrillion times faster).

It is unclear how the newly unveiled chip compares to another Google product – the Willow quantum processor unveiled in December. The two have roughly similar processing capacities, although the Willow is reportedly slightly better than its Chinese rival when it comes to coherence time, a key parameter enabling more complex computations, according to Live Science. The US tech giant has not commented on the USTC statement.

Chinese companies have substantially boosted investments in AI and quantum computing after President Xi Jinping urged the nation to accelerate fundamental scientific research. Beijing is aiming to increase self-reliance in crucial areas, including chip-making, space exploration, and military sciences.

Bloomberg reported in October 2023 that Chinese companies and institutions applied for 29,853 AI-related patents in 2022, compared to 29,000 in the previous year. The figure is nearly 80% more than US filings.

Related

China increasingly outpacing US in AI patents – Bloomberg [10-25-2023]

China’s New Quantum Machine Runs One Million Times Faster Than Google’s

by Chinese Academy of Sciences [3-7-2025 published]

A new quantum computing breakthrough has sent shockwaves through the tech world. Researchers at USTC unveiled Zuchongzhi-3, a 105-qubit machine that processes calculations at speeds that dwarf even the most powerful supercomputers.

It marks another leap forward in the quest for quantum supremacy, with the team demonstrating computational power orders of magnitude beyond Google’s latest results.

Breakthrough in Quantum Computing with Zuchongzhi-3

A research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, along with its partners, has made significant progress in random quantum circuit sampling using Zuchongzhi-3 — a superconducting quantum computing prototype equipped with 105 qubits and 182 couplers.

Zuchongzhi-3 operates at an astonishing speed, performing computations 10^15 times faster than the most powerful supercomputer available today and one million times faster than Google’s latest published quantum computing results. This achievement marks a major breakthrough in quantum computing, building on the success of its predecessor, Zuchongzhi-2.

The study, led by Jianwei Pan, Xiaobo Zhu, Chengzhi Peng, and other researchers from both China and abroad, was published as a cover article in Physical Review Letters.

The Road to Quantum Supremacy

Quantum supremacy, the ability of a quantum computer to perform tasks beyond the reach of classical computers, has been a key goal in the field. In 2019, Google’s 53-qubit Sycamore processor completed a random circuit sampling task in 200 seconds, a feat estimated to take 10,000 years on the world’s fastest supercomputer at the time.

However, in 2023, USTC researchers demonstrated more advanced classical algorithms capable of completing the same task in 14 seconds using over 1,400 A100 GPUs. With the advent of the Frontier supercomputer, equipped with expanded memory, this task can now be performed in just 1.6 seconds, effectively challenging Google’s earlier claim of quantum supremacy.

Pushing the Boundaries: Jiuzhang and Zuchongzhi Milestones

Subsequently, using the optimal classical algorithm as its benchmark, the same team at USTC achieved the first rigorously proven quantum supremacy with the Jiuzhang photonic quantum computing prototype in 2020. This was followed in 2021 by a superconducting demonstration using the Zuchongzhi-2 processor.

In 2023, the team’s development of the 255-photon Jiuzhang-3 demonstrated quantum supremacy that surpassed classical supercomputers by 10^16 orders of magnitude. In October 2024, Google’s 67-qubit superconducting quantum processor, Sycamore, demonstrated quantum supremacy by outperforming classical supercomputers by nine orders of magnitude.

Zuchongzhi-3: A Leap in Quantum Performance

Building upon the 66-qubit Zuchongzhi-2, the USTC research team significantly enhanced key performance metrics to develop Zuchongzhi-3, which features 105 qubits and 182 couplers. The quantum processor achieves a coherence time of 72 μs, a simultaneous single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.90%, a simultaneous two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.62%, and a simultaneous readout fidelity of 99.13%. The extended coherence time provides the necessary duration for performing more complex operations and computations.

To evaluate its capabilities, the team conducted an 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task on the system. The results demonstrated a computational speed that outpaces the world’s most powerful supercomputer by 15 orders of magnitude and surpasses Google’s latest quantum computing results by six orders of magnitude, establishing the strongest quantum computational advantage in a superconducting system to date.

Expanding the Future of Quantum Research

Following the achievement of the strongest “quantum computational advantage” with Zuchongzhi-3, the team is actively advancing research in quantum error correction, quantum entanglement, quantum simulation, and quantum chemistry. The researchers have implemented a 2D grid qubit architecture, improving qubit interconnectivity and data transfer rates.

Utilizing this architecture, they integrated surface code and are currently developing quantum error correction using a distance-7 surface code, with plans to extend this to distances of 9 and 11. These efforts aim to enable large-scale integration and manipulation of quantum bits.

Global Recognition and Impact

The team’s work is profoundly significant and has received widespread acclaim. One journal reviewer described it as “benchmarking a new superconducting quantum computer, which shows state-of-the-art performance” and a “significant upgrade from the previous 66-qubit device (Zuchongzhi-2).”

In recognition of the study’s critical importance, at the same time, Physics Magazine featured a dedicated viewpoint article that provided an in-depth exploration of its innovations and emphasized its broader significance.

Reference: “Establishing a New Benchmark in Quantum Computational Advantage with 105-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.0 Processor” by Dongxin Gao, Daojin Fan, Chen Zha, Jiahao Bei, Guoqing Cai, Jianbin Cai, Sirui Cao, Fusheng Chen, Jiang Chen, Kefu Chen, Xiawei Chen, Xiqing Chen, Zhe Chen, Zhiyuan Chen, Zihua Chen, Wenhao Chu, Hui Deng, Zhibin Deng, Pei Ding, Xun Ding, Zhuzhengqi Ding, Shuai Dong, Yupeng Dong, Bo Fan, Yuanhao Fu, Song Gao, Lei Ge, Ming Gong, Jiacheng Gui, Cheng Guo, Shaojun Guo, Xiaoyang Guo, Lianchen Han, Tan He, Linyin Hong, Yisen Hu, He-Liang Huang, Yong-Heng Huo, Tao Jiang, Zuokai Jiang, Honghong Jin, Yunxiang Leng, Dayu Li, Dongdong Li, Fangyu Li, Jiaqi Li, Jinjin Li, Junyan Li, Junyun Li, Na Li, Shaowei Li, Wei Li, Yuhuai Li, Yuan Li, Futian Liang, Xuelian Liang, Nanxing Liao, Jin Lin, Weiping Lin, Dailin Liu, Hongxiu Liu, Maliang Liu, Xinyu Liu, Xuemeng Liu, Yancheng Liu, Haoxin Lou, Yuwei Ma, Lingxin Meng, Hao Mou, Kailiang Nan, Binghan Nie, Meijuan Nie, Jie Ning, Le Niu, Wenyi Peng, Haoran Qian, Hao Rong, Tao Rong, Huiyan Shen, Qiong Shen, Hong Su, Feifan Su, Chenyin Sun, Liangchao Sun, Tianzuo Sun, Yingxiu Sun, Yimeng Tan, Jun Tan, Longyue Tang, Wenbing Tu, Cai Wan, Jiafei Wang, Biao Wang, Chang Wang, Chen Wang, Chu Wang, Jian Wang, Liangyuan Wang, Rui Wang, Shengtao Wang, Xiaomin Wang, Xinzhe Wang, Xunxun Wang, Yeru Wang, Zuolin Wei, Jiazhou Wei, Dachao Wu, Gang Wu, Jin Wu, Shengjie Wu, Yulin Wu, Shiyong Xie, Lianjie Xin, Yu Xu, Chun Xue, Kai Yan, Weifeng Yang, Xinpeng Yang, Yang Yang, Yangsen Ye, Zhenping Ye, Chong Ying, Jiale Yu, Qinjing Yu, Wenhu Yu, Xiangdong Zeng, Shaoyu Zhan, Feifei Zhang, Haibin Zhang, Kaili Zhang, Pan Zhang, Wen Zhang, Yiming Zhang, Yongzhuo Zhang, Lixiang Zhang, Guming Zhao, Peng Zhao, Xianhe Zhao, Xintao Zhao, Youwei Zhao, Zhong Zhao, Luyuan Zheng, Fei Zhou, Liang Zhou, Na Zhou, Naibin Zhou, Shifeng Zhou, Shuang Zhou, Zhengxiao Zhou, Chengjun Zhu, Qingling Zhu, Guihong Zou, Haonan Zou, Qiang Zhang, Chao-Yang Lu, Cheng-Zhi Peng, Xiaobo Zhu and Jian-Wei Pan, 3 March 2025, Physical Review Letters.

China achieves quantum supremacy claim with new chip 1 quadrillion times faster than the most powerful supercomputers

by Alan Bradley [3-12-2025 published].

This new superconducting prototype quantum processor achieved benchmarking results to rival Google's new Willow QPU.

Researchers in China have developed a quantum processing unit (QPU) that is 1 quadrillion (10¹⁵) times faster than the best supercomputers on the planet.

The new prototype 105-qubit chip, dubbed "Zuchongzhi 3.0," which uses superconducting qubits, represents a significant step forward for quantum computing, scientists at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei said.

It rivals the benchmarking results set by Google's latest Willow QPU in December 2024 that allowed scientists to stake a claim for quantum supremacy — where quantum computers are more capable than the fastest supercomputers — in lab-based benchmarking.

The scientists used the processor to complete a task on the widely used quantum computing random circuit sampling (RSC) benchmark in just a few hundred seconds, they said in a new study published March 3 in the journal Physical Review Letters.

This test, 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task, was also completed 1 million times faster than the result set by Google's previous generation Sycamore chip, published in October 2024. Frontier, the second-fastest supercomputer in the world, would only be able to complete the same task in 5.9 billion years, by contrast

Related: World's 1st modular quantum computer that can operate at room temperature goes online

Although the results suggest QPUs are capable of achieving quantum supremacy, the specific RCS benchmarking used favors quantum methods. Also, improvements in classical algorithms that drive classical computing may close the gap, as happened in 2019 when Google scientists first announced a quantum computer had outperformed a classical computer — in the first use of the RSC benchmark.

"Our work not only advances the frontiers of quantum computing, but also lays the groundwork for a new era where quantum processors play an essential role in tackling sophisticated real-world challenges," the scientists said in the study.

Rivaling Google's best quantum processor

The latest iteration of Zuchongzhi includes 105 transmon qubits — devices made from metals like tantalum, niobium, and aluminum that have reduced sensitivity to noise — in a 15-by-7 rectangular lattice. This builds on the previous chip, which included 66 qubits.

One of the most important areas critical to the viability of quantum computing in real-world settings is coherence time, a measure of how long a qubit can maintain its superposition and tap into the laws of quantum mechanics to perform calculations in parallel. Longer coherence times mean more complicated operations and calculations are possible.

Another major improvement was in gate fidelity and quantum error correction, which has been an obstacle to building useful quantum computers. Gate fidelity measures how accurately a quantum gate performs its intended operation, where a quantum gate is analogous to a classical logic gate, performing a specific operation on one or more qubits, manipulating their quantum state. Higher fidelity qubits mean fewer errors and more accurate computations.

Zuchongzhi 3.0 performed with an impressive parallel single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.90%, and a parallel two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.62%. Google's Willow QPU edged it slightly, with results of 99.97% and 99.86% respectively.

These improvements were largely possible due to engineering improvements, including enhancements in fabrication methods and better optimized qubits design, the scientists said in the study. For instance, the latest iteration lithographically defines qubit components using tantalum and aluminum, bonded through an indium bump flip-chip process. This improves accuracy and minimizes contamination.

Related

Quantum computers are here — but why do we need them and what will they be used for? [11-1-2024]

Breakthrough quantum chip that harnesses new state of matter could set us on the path to quantum supremacy [2-19-2025]

Scientists create world's 1st chip that can protect data in the age of quantum computing attacks [2-25-2025]

Superconducting quantum processor prototype operates 10¹⁵ times faster than fastest supercomputer

by Liu Danxu, Ge Shuyun, University of Science and Technology of China [3-3-2025 published].

Zuchongzhi-3, a superconducting quantum computing prototype with 105 qubits and 182 couplers, has made significant advancements in random quantum circuit sampling. This prototype was successfully developed by a research team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC).

This prototype operates at a speed that is 10^15 times faster than the fastest supercomputer currently available and one million times faster than the latest results published by Google. This achievement marks a milestone in enhancing the performance of quantum computation, following the success of Zuchongzhi-2. The research findings have been published as the cover article in Physical Review Letters.

Quantum supremacy is the demonstration of a quantum computer capable of performing tasks that are infeasible for classical computers. In 2019, Google's 53-qubit Sycamore processor completed a random circuit sampling task in 200 seconds, a task that would have taken approximately 10,000 years to simulate on the world's fastest supercomputer at the time.

However, in 2023, USTC demonstrated more advanced classical algorithms, completing the same task in about 14 seconds using over 1,400 A100 GPUs. With the use of Frontier supercomputers equipped with larger memory, the task is expected to be completed in just 1.6 seconds. As a result, Google's claim of "quantum computational supremacy" at that time was overturned.

Subsequently, using the optimal classical algorithm as the benchmark, the same team of USTC achieved the first rigorously proven quantum supremacy with the "Jiuzhang" photonic quantum computing prototype in 2020. This was followed in 2021 by the achievement of the same task in a superconducting system, achieved with the Zuchongzhi-2 processor.

In 2023, the team's development of the 255-photon Jiuzhang-3 demonstrated quantum supremacy that surpassed classical supercomputers by 10^16 times. In October 2024, Google's 67-qubit superconducting quantum processor, Sycamore, demonstrated quantum supremacy by outperforming classical supercomputers by nine orders of magnitude.

Building upon the 66-qubit Zuchongzhi-2, the USTC research team significantly enhanced key performance metrics to develop Zuchongzhi-3, which features 105 qubits and 182 couplers. The quantum processor achieves a coherence time of 72 μs, a parallel single-qubit gate fidelity of 99.90%, a parallel two-qubit gate fidelity of 99.62%, and a parallel readout fidelity of 99.13%. The extended coherence time provides the necessary duration for performing more complex operations and computations.

To evaluate its capabilities, the team conducted an 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task on the system. Compared to the current optimal classical algorithm, the computational speed surpasses that of the world's most powerful supercomputer by 15 orders of magnitude. Additionally, it outperforms the latest results published by Google in October of last year by 6 orders of magnitude, establishing the strongest quantum computational advantage in the superconducting system to date.

Following the achievement of the strongest quantum computational advantage with Zuchongzhi-3, the team is actively advancing research in quantum error correction, quantum entanglement, quantum simulation, quantum chemistry, and other areas. Researchers adopted a 2D grid qubit architecture, facilitating efficient interconnections among qubits and enhancing data transfer rates.

Based on this architecture, the team integrated surface code and is actively researching quantum error correction with a distance-7 surface code. Plans are in place to increase this distance to 9 and 11, paving the way for massive integration and manipulation of quantum bits.

The team's work holds profound significance and has received widespread acclaim. One journal reviewer described it as "benchmarking a new superconducting quantum computer, which shows state-of-the-art performance," and a "significant upgrade from the previous 66-qubit device (Zuchongzhi-2)."

The research team included Pan Jianwei, Zhu Xiaobo, and Peng Chengzhi, in collaboration with Shanghai Research Center for Quantum Sciences, Henan Key Laboratory of Quantum Information and Cryptography, China National Institute of Metrology, Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology, School of Microelectronics at Xidian University, and the Institute of Theoretical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Superconducting Quantum Computing Beyond 100 Qubits

by Barry C. Sanders, Institute for Quantum Science and Technology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada [3-3-2025 published].

A new high-performance quantum processor boasts 105 superconducting qubits and rivals Google’s acclaimed Willow processor.

In the quest for useful quantum computers, processors based on superconducting qubits are especially promising. These devices are both programmable and capable of error correction. In December 2024, researchers at Google Quantum AI in California reported a 105-qubit superconducting processor known as Willow (see Research News: Cracking the Challenge of Quantum Error Correction) [1]. Now Jian-Wei Pan at the University of Science and Technology of China and colleagues have demonstrated their own 105-qubit processor, Zuchongzhi 3.0 (Fig. 1) [2]. The two processors have similar performances, indicating a neck-and-neck race between the two groups.

Quantum advantage is the claim that a quantum computer can perform a specific task faster than the most powerful nonquantum, or classical, computer. A standard task for this purpose is called random circuit sampling, and it works as follows. The quantum computer applies a sequence of randomly ordered operations, known as a random circuit, to a set of qubits. This circuit transforms the qubits in a unique and complex way. The computer then measures the final states of the qubits. By repeating this process many times with different random circuits, the quantum computer records a probability distribution of final qubit states.

For the classical computer, the equivalent problem would be to simulate that distribution by computing the transformation of the qubits into their final states. However, this task is not actually performed because it is too difficult for such a computer. Instead, researchers infer the complexity of the classical simulation based on reasonable assumptions about the best-known simulation approach and its required resources, especially run-time—although such assumptions can be contentious [3].

In 2021, Pan and colleagues used random circuit sampling to claim quantum advantage in their original Zuchongzhi processor (see Viewpoint: Quantum Leap for Quantum Primacy) [4]. This device was named after the Chinese polymath who calculated pi with record-breaking precision in the fifth century. The original processor had 66 qubits and 110 qubit couplers, and the team performed random circuit sampling on a subset of 56 qubits with up to 20 logical cycles—a measure of the complexity of the qubit operations. The researchers concluded that their 56-qubit subset outperformed Google’s 53-qubit superconducting processor, Sycamore, reported in 2019 [5]. Subsequently, there has been a dramatic race between Pan’s team and Google to build larger high-quality superconducting processors.

Google’s 105-qubit Willow processor announced last December has garnered widespread admiration, not only for its quality and scale but also for its ability to host below-threshold surface-code memory—a type of memory that could be useful for fault-tolerant quantum computing [1]. And now Pan and colleagues present Zuchongzhi 3.0, which has 105 qubits, arranged in a 15 × 7 array, and 182 qubit couplers (Fig. 2) [2]. The researchers tested their new device by running random circuit sampling on a subset of 83 qubits with 32 logical cycles. They determined that the most powerful classical computer would need several billion years of run-time to simulate the probability distribution generated by their quantum processor in only 100 seconds. This performance was several orders of magnitude better than that of Google’s 67- and 70-qubit Sycamore processors [6], two precursors to Willow.

Both Zuchongzhi 3.0 and Willow have executed random circuit sampling, but comparing their performances is not straightforward because the tasks differed in complexity. According to a Google blog, benchmarking of Willow shows that today’s fastest classical computers would need 10^25 years to simulate the results produced by Willow in 5 minutes [7]. Nevertheless, the key properties of the two quantum processors can be compared, as exemplified by a table in the Quantum Computing Report released by GQI, a quantum intelligence firm [8]. This table lists averages of the following parameters: qubit connectivity, rates of spontaneous emission and dephasing (two qubit effects that can cause errors), fidelities for one- and two-qubit logic gates and for qubit readout, and time delays in those gates.

According to the table, Willow and Zuchongzhi 3.0 are tied for average qubit connectivity, and Willow has a slight edge on the other measures. But the race is not over. These results are simply a glimpse at where the two runners are at this time in the race, and their separation is small.

Pan and colleagues describe the challenges they overcame to achieve their high-performing quantum processor. The key advance was an increase in the coherence time—the duration over which the qubits’ fragile quantum states persisted. The team made this improvement by reducing charge and flux noise through an optimization of parameters describing the device’s capacitance and superconducting inductance. Additionally, the researchers reshaped qubit capacitor pads to limit energy loss, upgraded wiring to minimize noise produced by room-temperature electronics, and bonded together two substrates to increase qubit relaxation and dephasing times.

This race for large-scale superconducting computing is all the more intriguing because of complex geopolitics. Quantum computing is regarded as an emerging dual-use technology, meaning that its development and applications—which are still unrealized and largely unpredictable—could have both civilian and military uses. Given this context, international discussions have led to export restrictions on quantum computers and components that can process, with low errors, 34-qubits worth of information [9]. The experiments by Pan’s team and Google show that, despite such measures, competitors separated by geopolitics are in a close race.

References

[1] Google Quantum AI and Collaborators, “Quantum error correction below the surface code threshold,” Nature 638, 920 (2024).

[2] D. Gao et al., “Establishing a new benchmark in quantum computational advantage with 105-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.0 processor,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 090601 (2025).

[3] E. Pednault et al., “Leveraging secondary storage to simulate deep 54-qubit Sycamore circuits,” arXiv:1910.09534.

[4] Y. Wu et al., “Strong quantum computational advantage using a superconducting quantum processor,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 127, 180501 (2021).

[5] F. Arute et al., “Quantum supremacy using a programmable superconducting processor,” Nature 574, 505 (2019).

[6] A. Morvan et al., “Phase transitions in random circuit sampling,” Nature 634, 328 (2024).

[7] H. Neven, “Meet Willow, our state-of-the-art quantum chip,” Google blog, 9 Dec. 2024.

[8] D. Finke, “Chinese scientists describe the 105 qubit Zuchongzhi 3.0, a competitor to Google’s Willow,” Quantum Comput. Rep., 4 Jan. 2025.

[9] M. Sparkes, “The mysterious quantum export deal,” New Scientist 263, 18 (2024).

About the Author

Barry C. Sanders holds a BSc from the University of Calgary, Canada, a PhD from the University of London, and two diplomas and a DSc from Imperial College London. His research is focused on quantum science. He is scientific director of Calgary’s Quantum City, a mentor with the Creative Destruction Labs in Toronto and Calgary, board chair of Deep Tech Canada, and advisor for CERN’s Open Quantum Institute and the Google XPRIZE in quantum computing. He is a fellow of the American Physical Society, the United Kingdom Institute of Physics, Optica, and the Royal Society of Canada.