In several cities we find China has begun establishing quantum communications networks. They are now building a 1,000 km quantum communications line that will connect Beijing and Shanghai. On Tuesday the People’s Daily reported that China has used the principles of quantum physics to enable quantum communication to provide a new way of not only processing information but also includes encoding, storage, transmission and logic operations, also the precise manipulation of photons, atoms and other microscopic particles. In July, for the first time in this world we will see China launching its first experimental quantum communications satellite.
A Chinese quantum scientist, Pan Jianwei who is also a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China said that traditionally, secure encryption and transmission of information is dependent on complex algorithms. But with the increase in computing power, the complex algorithms are bound to be cracked. Pan said that it is impossible to wiretap, intercept or crack information transmitted through quantum communication as Quantum communication boasts of ultra-high security because a quantum photon can neither be separated nor duplicated.
In 2007, using an optical fibre over a distance of 100 km, Pan led his team to achieve secure quantum distribution. Later on his team built the world’s first all access quantum communications network in 2008, and they were the first to create the first large scale quantum communications network in 2012. Pan also predicted that within 10 to 20 years, we will find that we are in a position to create a special quantum computer or a quantum simulator, where we will find that the capacity of computing power will be 10 billion times faster compared to that of a conventional computer.
