{"id":7063,"date":"2021-02-12T06:11:52","date_gmt":"2021-02-12T06:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/?p=7063"},"modified":"2025-04-23T09:55:30","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T09:55:30","slug":"china-uk-quantum-computing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focus.cbbc.org\/china-uk-quantum-computing\/","title":{"rendered":"Where do the UK and China sit in the quantum computing ‘Space Race’?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quantum computing is one of the most anticipated yet least understood technologies of our time, but it could transform all aspects of life and give humanity the power to fight climate change and cure cancer, say scientists. Charlotte Middlehurst finds out more<\/span><\/h2>\n

Quantum computing <\/span>refers to the next stage of computer processing where machines can carry out vast and complex calculations at unfathomable speeds.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the quantum era dawns, the real-world benefits still seem intangible. Who needs quantum computing and, as global leaders in this field, what role do the UK and China have to play?<\/span><\/p>\n

Quantum mechanics has passed a few milestones recently. In 2019, Google announced it had achieved the long-awaited feat of quantum supremacy \u2013 when a quantum computer performs a calculation far beyond the reach of current machines.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Its 54-qubit Sycamore processor was able to perform a calculation in 200 seconds that would take the world\u2019s then most powerful supercomputer 10,000 years to complete. Though this was challenged by IBM, who countered it would take their machine 2.5 days not thousands of years. Still, Google\u2019s CEO Sundar Pichai <\/span>declared it<\/span><\/a> \u201cthe \u2018hello world\u2019 moment we\u2019ve been waiting for.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Since then, other nations including Germany, the US and India, have expressed their strategic intent in a quantum future with pledges worth billions of dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n