Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese researchers announced the successful development of “Jiuzhang-4,” a programmable quantum computing prototype featuring 1,024 squeezed-state quantum inputs and 8,176 modes, which Chinese scientists describe as a new world record in photonic quantum information technology.
According to the research team, “Jiuzhang-4” can manipulate and detect quantum states involving up to 3,050 photons, significantly surpassing the 255-photon capability of the earlier “Jiuzhang-3” system. The team stated that the prototype can solve Gaussian boson sampling problems at a speed 10^54 times faster than the world’s most powerful conventional supercomputers.
University of Science and Technology of China professor Lu Chaoyang said the team developed a high-efficiency optical parametric oscillator light source and a spatiotemporal hybrid-coded interferometer to support the system’s performance.
The report also highlighted China’s broader advances in quantum computing competition. After Google announced a 53-qubit quantum computer in 2019, China introduced both the 76-photon “Jiuzhang” photonic quantum prototype and the 56-qubit superconducting prototype “Zuchongzhi-2,” which Chinese researchers say made China the only country to achieve “quantum computational advantage” in both photonic and superconducting approaches. The report further stated that Chinese researchers reached a milestone in quantum error correction by the end of 2025, achieving “below-threshold” operation in which error correction improves as additional corrections are applied.
Source: Xinhua, May 13, 2026
https://www.news.cn/tech/20260513/8d58ad5254d0483f8fbe5cbeb108085b/c.html