The Chip Hub for Integrated Photonics Xplore (CHIPX) institute, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the start-up Turing Quantum have jointly developed a photonic quantum chip that reportedly delivers a 1,000-fold acceleration in complex problem-solving. Awarded the “Leading Technology Award” at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, the chip utilizes co-packaged photonics and electronics, achieving chip-level integration and wafer-scale mass production. This innovation is intended to boost the efficiency of AI data centres and supercomputers significantly, and is currently deployed in applications spanning aerospace, biomedicine, and finance, exceeding the computational limits of classical systems.
China’s Advancement in Photonic Quantum Chip Technology
China is rapidly advancing quantum computing with a new photonic quantum chip, recently awarded the “Leading Technology Award” at the 2025 World Internet Conference. Developed jointly by CHIPX and Turing Quantum, this chip utilizes light – photons – to perform calculations, offering a potential speed increase of over 1,000x compared to traditional computers. This breakthrough centers on achieving “co-packaging” of photons and electronics at the chip level, alongside wafer-scale manufacturing – a reported world first – paving the way for practical quantum applications.
The significance of this technology lies in its potential to overcome limitations of classical computing, particularly in complex tasks. Unlike electronic bits, photons offer inherent advantages in parallelism and speed. Developers are already deploying the chip in sectors like aerospace, biomedicine, and finance, tackling problems previously intractable. Current efforts focus on scaling the chip’s capacity, aiming for designs capable of handling increasingly large numbers of photons for even greater computational power.
China’s newly developed optical quantum chip represents a significant leap in computing capability, offering over a 1,000x speed increase for complex calculations. Awarded the “Leading Technology Award” at the 2025 World Internet Conference, the chip utilizes photons – rather than traditional electronic bits – to process information. This photonic approach bypasses limitations of classical computers, enabling faster processing for demanding tasks in artificial intelligence, and is already deployed in sectors like aerospace and biomedicine.
Developed jointly by CHIPX and Turing Quantum, this chip’s innovation lies in its “co-packaging” of photons and electronics at the chip level. Achieving this integration, alongside wafer-scale mass production, is described as a world first. This isn’t just about speed; the technology unlocks the potential for solving problems currently intractable for even the most powerful supercomputers. Developers anticipate future iterations will handle even greater numbers of photons, further expanding computational power.
