China's Social Security Fund Places Systematic Bets on Quantum Technology
National-level "patient capital" has begun deploying intensively into quantum technology, with three events landing on the same day, August 17.
Three Deals in One Day
Yaosheng Quantum (幺正量子) Series A. On August 17, Economic Daily reported that China's National Social Security Fund participated in the Series A round of Hefei-based Yaosheng Quantum. Shenzhen Capital Group led the round, with the Social Security Fund Greater Bay Area Sci-Tech Innovation Equity Investment Fund (Shenzhen) and Shenzhen Innovation Capital Investment Co. jointly investing, and GF Xinde, Jingming Capital, Puhua Capital and others following on. Yaosheng Quantum was incubated from the team of CAS academician Guo Guangcan at the University of Science and Technology of China and has operated for four years. The round came less than four months after its Pre-A.
Guosheng Quantum (国盛量子) strategic financing. The same day, Cailian Press reported that a venture fund under State Grid completed a strategic investment of tens of millions of RMB in Anhui Guosheng Quantum, targeting iteration of its diamond NV-center quantum measurement technology and industrial deployment. This is the first direct quantum investment by a power-sector central SOE, signaling quantum technology's move from laboratory to scaled industrial application.
Linkway Laser (频准激光) IPO subscription. On August 16, quantum laser maker Linkway Laser completed its subscription: issue price of 186.88 RMB, 10 million shares issued, total raise of 1.869 billion RMB. Ten strategic investors including Biwin Storage and AMEC (中微半导体) subscribed 353 million RMB. The company makes narrow-linewidth low-noise lasers for quantum computing and quantum precision measurement, with 2025 revenue of 420 million RMB and net profit of 160 million RMB — the first 1.8-billion-RMB-scale raise in China's quantum precision measurement laser segment.
A Year of Patient Capital Buildup
- July 2025: Huayi Boao (华翊博奥) Quantum completed several hundred million RMB in equity financing, co-led by the Social Security Fund Zhongguancun Independent Innovation Special Fund, Beijing Information Industry Development Investment Fund, and Legend Capital. The company emerged from Tsinghua's Quantum Information Center, founded by CAS academician and Tsinghua professor Duan Luming.
- October 2025: The Social Security Fund, Zhejiang Provincial Government, and Agricultural Bank of China jointly set up a 50 billion RMB Zhejiang Social Security Sci-Tech Fund.
- January 2026: Six special funds under the Zhejiang Social Security Sci-Tech Fund launched, with Hengsheng Technology (衡昇量子-linked engineering platform backed by USTC and Hefei National Laboratory) among first investments.
- June 2026: China Telecom Group Investment set up a 1.5 billion RMB quantum industry venture fund, explicitly targeting quantum information technology.
- 6–12 months: whether the Social Security Fund continues into other routes (neutral atoms, photonic, topological quantum computing), and whether cumulative portfolio companies reach 8–10 within three years.
- 12–24 months: Guosheng Quantum's order conversion within the State Grid system, and Linkway Laser's customer structure — whether it enters the supply chains of mainstream quantum hardware makers such as IBM, Quantinuum, or QuantumCTek.
- 6–12 months: measured results of the first commercial quantum + AI hybrid deployments (drugs, batteries, logistics) determining whether patient capital doubles down.
Within a year, the Social Security Fund has backed three quantum companies on different technical routes — Huayi Boao (ion trap), Yaosheng Quantum (superconducting), and Hengsheng (quantum precision measurement) — via special funds, co-investment, and lead investment, alongside the 1.5 billion RMB China Telecom fund and the 50 billion RMB Zhejiang fund. This is a systematic layout, not one-off investing.
Why Now? Three Numbers
1. The industry has passed an inflection point. CCID data shows China's quantum computing industry at 11.56 billion RMB in 2025, growing over 30% annually; CAICT projects it will exceed 20 billion RMB in 2026 — the first track cross-validated by industry data after the 15th Five-Year Plan listed quantum as the top of six future industries. 2. Engineering delivery is now the main theme. At the 5th CCF Quantum Computing Conference (Shenzhen), focus shifted from qubit counts and fidelity records to "how to deliver" and "how to create real value." CIQTech's self-developed control system has been validated at 100+ qubits: single-qubit gate fidelity 99.99%, two-qubit 99.8%, readout 99% — industrial competition is now about system capability, not single metrics. 3. Quantum + AI hybrid models are the new hotspot. Speakers converged on one judgment: what will truly change the world is the fusion and synergy of quantum and classical computing. CIQTech founder and CEO Jin Yirong cited scenarios: drug-protein binding calculations in new drug R&D, microscopic simulation of battery materials, and logistics route optimization — "finding optimal solutions from vast possibility spaces" is exactly where quantum computing excels.
The Structural Signal
The key word for the Social Security Fund is "patient." Quantum technology typically requires 5–10 years of sustained investment from prototype to engineering to scaled delivery — a natural fit for long-horizon capital. Betting simultaneously on ion trap, superconducting, and quantum precision measurement routes shows patience extends beyond time horizon to technological diversification.
State Grid's entry is equally telling: diamond NV-center quantum sensing suits grid equipment condition monitoring, current measurement, and magnetic field detection. Rather than mainstream quantum computing routes (superconducting or ion trap), the power SOE chose vertical coupling of "power + quantum precision measurement" — evidence that the field is branching from general-purpose quantum computing toward "industry + quantum" deep paths.
Beyond Guosheng Quantum, the quantum sensing vertical gained further patient capital: Linkway Laser's 1.869 billion RMB raise and 353 million RMB from strategic investors elevate quantum precision measurement lasers from "supporting components" to an "independent track."