China replaces imported quantum computer component with domestic product immediately after US sanctions

Origin Wukong is the quantum computer developed by Origin Quantum which was opened up to global users in January. Photo: CCTV

• Chinese research company Origin Quantum announced it has created a crucial 'high-density microwave interconnect module' domestically
• The news came days after the US expanded sanctions against China, adding 22 leaders in quantum research to its export control list

Just days after the US imposed yet another round of sanctions aimed at curbing China's quantum technology, China announced that a core component in the field no longer needs to be bought overseas, according to mainland media reports.

On Wednesday, less than a week after the updated sanctions list was released, Chinese quantum computing research company Origin Quantum said it had successfully created the crucial "high-density microwave interconnect module".

The component has been likened to the "neural network" of a quantum computer.

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Kong Weicheng, a researcher at Origin Quantum, told mainland media outlets that because quantum processors, or quantum chips, had to operate at ultra-low temperatures close to absolute zero (-269 degrees Celsius or -452 Fahrenheit), the module must first be able to insulate heat.

On top of that, it also needed to provide a high-speed, stable channel between the "brain" of the quantum computer and external devices for the accurate transmission of signals and quantum information.

Until now, a major obstacle to the module's independent domestic production has been sourcing one key part - an ultra-low temperature specialised high-frequency coaxial cable.

Anhui News reported on Thursday that the cable previously had to be imported from Japan and was expensive.

The newly developed module could provide microwave signal transmission channels for quantum chips with more than 100 bits, and could achieve stable signal transmission across temperature zones in extremely cool environments, Kong said.

The success of the module allowed quantum chips to "exert more powerful computational capabilities" which helped quantum computers to operate efficiently, he said.

As the tech war intensifies and the West's technological containment tightens, accelerating the pace of reducing dependence on other countries and achieving self-reliance has been all-important for China's quantum technology.

The US Commerce Department's updated export control list released on May 9 named 22 of China's leading players in quantum research and industrialisation among the 37 Chinese entities targeted.

Physicists in the country described the latest move as "unprecedented", with almost all of China's core strengths in quantum information research listed.

Origin Quantum, the backbone of China's quantum computing research and its industrial applications, also appeared on the sanctions list.

Origin Quantum was founded in 2017 by quantum physicists Guo Guoping and Guo Guangcan at the University of Science and Technology of China in the southeast province of Anhui. In creating the module, the company worked with the 40th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group, a research institute also based in Anhui province.

Origin Quantum is behind China's independently developed quantum computer Origin Wukong, which was opened up to global users in January. The machine had now completed more than 183,000 quantum computing tasks, state-run China News Agency reported on Wednesday.

Named after the Monkey King of Chinese mythology, Origin Wukong is China's latest and most advanced programmable and deliverable machine of its kind.

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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