One Step Closer To Quantum Realisation?Breaking Down The Zuchongzhi-3

The Chinese Quantum Processor That Leaves Supercomputers in the Dust (Apparently)

If you’ve come across me before, you’ll know that I write for business people.

If you’re a quantum scientist, skip this and head straight to the original paper:

[ Establishing a New Benchmark in Quantum Computational Advantage with 105-qubit Zuchongzhi 3.0 Processor ]

For the rest of us.

Imagine you have a ridiculously complicated maze—one so tricky that even the world’s smartest supercomputers would take thousands of years to solve it.

Now, imagine if a super-fast, almost magical machine could figure it out in just a few seconds.

That’s what China’s new quantum computer, Zuchongzhi-3, just did according to reports.

Built by a team from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and several other research institutions, Zuchongzhi-3 is a superconducting quantum computing prototype with 105 qubits and 182 couplers.

Translation?

It’s a next-level quantum machine that processes information in ways that make regular computers look like confused tortoises.

And here’s the punchline: it’s reportedly a million times faster than the latest quantum results from Google and

That’s a number so big it makes infinity jealous.

In fact that is 1,000,000,000,000,000, a Quadrillion times faster than the fastest classical supercomputer on earth.

I will just say that again, take a pause for it to sink it and consider it.

A Quadrillion times faster than the fastest classical supercomputer on earth.

It is important to note that this is for certain types of mathematical problems, quantum computers are slower than traditional computers at certain tasks.

The upside is that they are better at complex problems, so chemistry, data, materials, drug design, fuel cell design, financial optimisation etc they are awesome - and that's a lot of the stuff we care about.

Quantum Innovation Pace

Jensen Hungs statement claims we are 20 years from usable applications, I said then that quantum computers were at their BBC Micro 32K moment... and would develop quickly, this was only on January the 10th this year.

I did not think we would be this far ahead on quantum computing chip capability at this point, although I do see even bigger breakthroughs on the horizon.

Although we haven't have jumped from BBC Micro 32K (1981) to a 486 Pentium (1993) overnight it is a considerable speed jump and the genie is well and truly out of the bottle.

However it is important to consider that even though the new Chinese chip is fast, it does not mean that it is extensibly useful.

Let me explain.

But Hold On…

Before we all go nuts here, let’s consider that there’s still a lot of sticky hype around.

Claims in quantum computing are at risk of being anything from slight exaggerations to outright whoppers, a peppering of the right PR spin to make things look a lot better and more impressive than they are are common.

This isn’t just about tech companies flexing their chips—this is about national pride.

Whoever wins the quantum supremacy game is the game champion, game over, set and match, all spoils to the victor.

The nation state that "Wins Quantum" wins big.

It is the Manhattan project of our time and it's important to view these news stories and press releases with this in mind.

Because of that, scientific papers, claims, and press releases need significant evaluation, visible benchmarking, and ultimately, a working quantum machine that can prove its pudding in real-world applications to be worthy of the Quantum crown.

Lets not forget the 4th state of Matter claim by Microsoft just a few weeks ago, which wasn't without controversy.

In some cases—especially when national bragging rights are at stake—things may be rushed to the newsroom to push a narrative of:

??? "Our tech is way ahead of yours."

I first caught site of this Zuchongzhi-3 claim back in December, now the paper is published its out for general consumption, which means the boffins back at the lab in China are already working on a bigger, better, smaller and more shiny version.

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article arguing that, China was likely neck and neck or even slightly ahead of the West in quantum computing.

But the proof of the pudding is in the eating...

While China is pumping out innovations and flashy headlines, their actual products haven’t been stacking up well against Western options.

As of February 2025, many of their quantum systems have been underwhelming in real-world performance.

?? [China’s Mightiest Quantum Computers - Brian Siegelwax]

Breaking Down The Claims

There are some other glaringly obvious concerns about this release.

The environment in the paper is set up as a benchmarking test and may not reflect the full extensibility of the platform.

Here's why:

1. Benchmarking vs. Real-World Applications – The experiments detailed in the document focus on demonstrating quantum computational advantage by using random circuit sampling, a problem specifically designed to be difficult for classical computers. While this is a critical test for quantum performance, it does not necessarily translate to practical applications like optimisation, chemistry simulations, or cryptography.
2. Scalability Concerns – The document presents results on a controlled test case but does not provide extensive discussion on how the system handles real-world algorithmic scalability beyond benchmarking scenarios. The ability to run larger, more diverse workloads without significant performance degradation is a key test for extensibility and at this stage it is unproven or unlikely.
3. Calibration and Error Mitigation – There are detailed discussions on fidelity correction methods, idle gate benchmarking, and calibration techniques used to improve the system's performance. These optimisations might be highly specific to the benchmarking task and may not generalise to different types of quantum workloads.
4. Memory and Computational Trade-offs – The document acknowledges that memory constraints impact the classical simulation of quantum circuits, suggesting that optimising for specific benchmarking tasks might not represent general-purpose usability. If the system is tuned primarily for benchmarking, it may lack the flexibility required for broader applications.

In summary, while the results provide strong evidence of quantum advantage for the tested scenario, they do not necessarily confirm the system's extensibility for diverse quantum applications.

Further testing in real-world use cases would be needed to validate the platform's broader capabilities.

In short it may be super fast, but super fast doesn't mean super usable.

That said, if you consider factors like investment, IP policies, and sheer manpower, China is still likely to win the race in the long run and the fact that they have developed this chip, even if its for a testbed demonstration should not be sniffed at.

So let’s break this down.

Quantum Supremacy: The Crown of Superiority

Back in 2019, Google bragged that its 53-qubit Sycamore processor had achieved "quantum supremacy."

The claim? It completed a computation in under five minutes that would take one of today’s fastest supercomputers 102? years (yes, 10 septillion years).

That’s what that number looks like: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years.

Impressive, right?

Well, not so fast.

Now, Zuchongzhi-3 sets the strongest quantum computational advantage ever seen in a superconducting system—potentially much, much faster.

What Makes Zuchongzhi-3 So Powerful?

Let’s break it down:

?? More Qubits, More Power – While Zuchongzhi-2 had 66 qubits, its new version flexes with 105 qubits.

Think of qubits as the quantum version of bits in a normal computer—except they can exist in multiple states at once, making them way more powerful and useful for certain types of computation.

?? Speed That Breaks Reality – The team ran an 83-qubit, 32-layer random circuit sampling task to test its abilities.

In real world language that means that compared to the world’s fastest supercomputer, Zuchongzhi-3 is 15 orders of magnitude faster.

That’s like strapping two big rockets to your shoes—and if it’s true, then Quantum Realisation just took a huge step forward.

?? Mind-Blowing Precision – The system’s gate fidelities (basically, how accurately it performs operations) are ridiculously high:

? Single-qubit gate fidelity: 99.90%

? Two-qubit gate fidelity: 99.62%

? Readout fidelity: 99.13%

That means it hardly makes mistakes.

If only I had that kind of accuracy when making coffee in the morning.

Impressive - but again on a testbed benchmarking environment.

What About Competitors ?

Let's just focus and review who has been in the news, because there are many more chip vendors planning for their day in the limelight:

?? IBM (1,121 qubits, Superconducting): Long-term vision – scaling up for error-corrected, useful quantum computing

?? China (60+ qubits, Superconducting): Near-term focus – proving quantum supremacy with highly optimised, small-scale systems - designed for benchmarking speed.

?? Google (70+ qubits, Superconducting): Balanced approach – quantum supremacy research, but also focusing on error correction

?? Microsoft (8 qubits, Majorana): High-risk, high-reward – betting on a novel, exotic qubit type for long-term fault tolerance

What’s Next? The Future of Quantum Awesomeness

Now that Zuchongzhi-3 has shattered benchmarking expectations, what’s next?

The researchers are diving into:

? Quantum error correction (because even quantum computers mess up sometimes)

? Quantum entanglement (think of it as quantum telepathy between particles)

? Quantum simulation (to model the mysteries of the universe)

? Quantum chemistry (hello, futuristic drug discovery!)

? Quantum Teleportation of Data

They’re also planning to increase qubit integration and improve quantum error correction techniques.

The goal?

Create a truly scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer.

In non-geek terms, they’re working on making quantum computing stable enough to be useful in real-world applications.

And when that happens - quantum will take over.

The Quantum Race is On!

Quantum computing isn’t just an academic flex.

it has the potential to revolutionise industries like AI, materials science, IT Operations, blockchain, cryptography, bitcoin, finance, It and more.

It will certainly require an A+ grade for your organisations leadership to manage and contain the next level of disruption.

With Zuchongzhi-3’s mind-blowing performance, China is now leading the quantum race, challenging Google, IBM, and others to keep up.

The tech they just released its fast, but that doesn't means its useful.

?? A single chip alone doesn’t win the race—it may be the engine, but it’s not the whole car.

Quantum computing is becoming a large and fragmented ecosystem, including:

?? SDKs (software development kits)

?? Simulators

?? Middleware

?? Algorithm design

?? Quantum-secure communication

The list goes on and on.

Winning the chip battle is one thing.

Winning the technology ecosystem war and user extensibility is another.

The Increasing Role Of AI in Quantum Innovation

AI is being used heavily, and now drives a lot of the innovation, from helping to reduce entanglement errors to reducing scaling problems in Quantum Machine Learning.

As innovations in AI mean that AI is less power-hungry, faster and smaller, AI use cases from Quantum algorithms to chip designs are running at a similar pace, this has turbo boosted the pace of development across the Quantum EcoSystem.

So who will build the first practical quantum supercomputer?

No one knows yet.

But one thing is certain: the future belongs to quantum.

And right now, Zuchongzhi-3 is wearing the crown for benching the best processing power, but a fast engine on a testbed is not a working car on the road.

About me

Helping leaders in Cybersecurity, Quantum, and AI drive high-impact growth, stronger valuations, and better exits.

?? Director of the world's largest Quantum Cybersecurity community (700+ members), connecting top experts in Quantum, AI, and Cybersecurity.

?? C-suite executive with a proven track record in scaling tech, finance, and asset finance businesses across EMEA & APAC.

?? Former network engineer with deep expertise in computational Root Cause Analysis & Causal Reasoning, applied in military and telecom environments.

?? Member of the Institute of Directors, European Corporate Governance Institute, and Royal United Services Institute for Defence & Security.

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