At the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention, which opened on September 20 in Hefei, three representative companies from the city's quantum industry chain took the spotlight. Origin Quantum unveiled the "Origin Wukong-180" superconducting quantum processor, QuantumCTek brought a miniaturized quantum satellite ground station, and CAS Quantum (Guoyi Quantum) exhibited an anti-quantum (post-quantum) cryptography machine. The three exhibits span three directions — quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum security — but share the same Hefei foundation: USTC, the Hefei National Laboratory, and a decade of industrial chain revenue totaling 6 billion yuan.
Why 180 Qubits Matters
"Origin Wukong-180" is the core processing unit of a fourth-generation fully homegrown superconducting quantum computer, which went online on May 12, 2026. Three key numbers:
- 180 computational qubits on a single chip, plus 251 coupling qubits for connectivity
- 99.9% single-qubit gate fidelity
- 99% two-qubit gate fidelity
- USTC (Pan Jianwei's team, Du Jiangfeng's team, and others)
- Hefei National Laboratory (quantum science and technology direction)
- Quantum Industry Science and Technology Park (under construction, including pilot-scale testing and cryptography inspection/testing platforms)
- A dedicated quantum industry fund (patient capital)
- Fourth-generation Wukong's open access: given the third generation's 1.3 million+ completed tasks, the fourth generation's 180-qubit order intake rate is the top indicator to watch.
- Replication of the miniaturized ground station: from sample to scaled procurement will take at least 12–18 months.
- PQC standard alignment: entry into financial and government procurement lists is the key to commercialization.
- Zuchongzhi 3.0 follow-up: the relationship between Hefei National Laboratory's superconducting prototype and Origin Wukong-180 remains to be clarified.
Only a handful of institutions worldwide can deliver hundred-qubit-class superconducting quantum computers, and Origin Quantum is the only Chinese company among them. The "Origin Tianji 4.0" measurement and control system (released May 6, 2025) handles signal generation, acquisition, and control, supporting scales of 500+ qubits.
The third-generation "Origin Wukong" (72-qubit Wukong chip) went online in January 2024; by September it had served users in 192 countries and regions, completing over 1.3 million quantum computing tasks. The third generation is still running while the fourth is already on the show floor — the "deploy one, build the next" cadence has never stopped.
The Satellite Ground Station: From 13 Tonnes to 100 Kilograms
QuantumCTek's miniaturized quantum satellite ground station represents the biggest scale transformation among the exhibits.
From 13 tonnes to 100 kg, deployment time shrank from several months to 3–5 hours. This is the critical leap in miniaturizing satellite-ground quantum communication infrastructure over the past decade: previously the equipment weighed as much as a truck and required a dedicated machine room; now a single person can move it, and it can be used in mountainous areas or mounted on urban rooftops.
Combined with the "Micius" quantum science experimental satellite (launched 2016, 600+ kg) and the 2022 "Jinan-1" quantum micro-nano satellite (98 kg), China has pushed satellite-ground quantum key distribution to the level of "one satellite pass produces 1 million bits of secure keys." This result was published in *Nature* in March 2025.
Why the "Three Horses" Gathered in Hefei
Hefei's quantum industry rests on four pillars:
Hefei currently hosts 100+ quantum-related enterprises with total industrial chain revenue of 6 billion yuan, ranking first in China and second globally. Micius, Zuchongzhi 3.0, and the world's first quantum micro-nano satellite all came out of here. Hefei built these into a foundation: university (USTC), laboratory (Hefei National Laboratory), industrial park, and dedicated fund all present at once.
The "Chinese Quantum Path" Behind Three Exhibits
Viewed together, the three exhibits sketch a path for China's quantum industry: from superconducting quantum computing to satellite-ground quantum communication to post-quantum cryptography, three tracks running simultaneously in Hefei. Computing provides the hardware base for "quantum advantage," communication provides infrastructure for a "quantum internet," and security provides a replacement for when classical cryptography is threatened by quantum computing.
The post-quantum cryptography line deserves special attention. Origin's "Panshi" anti-quantum server cryptographic machine has already been deployed in government document encryption, financial transaction protection, and core data storage in cloud data centers. Quantum computing doesn't yet truly threaten RSA, but the threat is already embedded in the rules: NIST's 2024 post-quantum cryptography standards (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA) are driving a global migration. Chinese vendors showing such products at a manufacturing convention is a bet on the compliance cycle of the next five to ten years.
Things Worth Watching
Sources
1. Sina / Hefei Evening News, "Quantum 'Three Horses' Shine at the Manufacturing Convention" (9-22): exhibit details, Hefei industry data, 6 billion yuan chain revenue. 2. China Workers' Daily online, "2026 World Manufacturing Convention Opens in Hefei" (9-21): convention scale, exhibition zones, Sept 20–23 schedule. 3. People's Daily Anhui, "Inside the 2026 World Manufacturing Convention" (9-21): Wukong-180 alongside iFlytek's platform and the BEST facility. 4. Toutiao, "China's Quantum Computers Start Taking Orders: 180 Qubits on the Show Floor" (9-21): third-generation historical data and fourth-generation fidelities.