Why China's perfectly placed to be quantum computing's superpower

In August 2016, China sent the world’s first quantum satellite into space from a launchpad in the Gobi Desert. Micius, which circles the earth at an altitude of 500km, is a powerful signal of intent – a starting gun for the technological race that could define the next century.

Quantum computing has huge potential. Instead of bits – which are either 1s or 0s – quantum computers use qubits, which can exist in more than one state. This means that they’re able to store more information using less energy than traditional computers, and makes them well suited to complex calculations that normal machines struggle with, like simulating certain chemical reactions, crunching prime numbers, or breaking complex cryptographic codes.

With Micius, Chinese researchers are attempting to use a different type of quantum technology to develop new forms of secure communications that would be unbreakable. Micius is being used to share cryptography keys, which are used to encode and decode secure communications. Ordinarily, these keys are vulnerable to interception, but Micius uses photons in a quantum-superposition state – it’s impossible to read them without changing what they say, so you can’t copy or intercept a key sent in this manner.