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Beijing launches state-run matchmaking program to force quantum technology into the marketplace
By isabelle // 2026-09-16
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  • Beijing launched the Scenario Handshake Plan to connect quantum companies with government and industrial customers.
  • The program targets six pilot applications including underwater sensing, secured communications and materials simulation.
  • None of the six projects has yet demonstrated quantum advantage over conventional computing systems.
  • More than 60 quantum companies now operate in Beijing's Yizhuang development district.
  • China's 15th Five-Year Plan names quantum technology as its top future industry priority.
Beijing has launched an ambitious program to move quantum technology out of university laboratories and into commercial use, pairing quantum companies and research teams with government agencies and businesses that have specific technical problems to solve. Announced Sept. 9-10 at the Industrial Future Conference in Beijing's Yizhuang district, the "Scenario Handshake Plan" is the latest sign of China's state-directed push to commercialize quantum computing, communications and sensing.

Six pilot projects target energy, finance and defense-adjacent sectors

The program has identified six specific pilot applications: macroeconomic forecasting and tax-compliance modeling, underwater sensing and imaging, quantum-secured communications for vehicles, quantum-secured communications for electrical substations, crude-oil transportation scheduling, and materials simulation. Designated coordinators will identify what customers need, connect them with technology providers and support testing and demonstration work, with the program also covering procurement introductions and technical-standards development. None of the six projects has yet demonstrated "quantum advantage," meaning the quantum systems involved have not outperformed conventional computers on any real task. That leaves the initiative, for now, as a customer-matching and demonstration effort rather than a set of completed commercial deployments — a reminder that Beijing's enthusiasm for quantum technology continues to run well ahead of its practical results. "Quantum computing is the most typical deep-water industry in this era," Feng Dagang, CEO of 36Kr, said in his opening speech. "Its return cycle is measured in decades, with no quick money to be gained, and today's hype has nothing to do with it. It bets on the computing paradigm 20 years later. The capital from the government, the technology from scientific research, the scenarios from industries, and the patience from capital must be combined together, none of them is dispensable."

Beijing's quantum cluster keeps expanding

The program is based in the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also called Yizhuang or Beijing E-Town, where officials say more than 60 companies are now working on quantum computing, communications and sensing, using approaches ranging from superconducting and trapped-ion to neutral-atom and photonic systems. Ten more companies signed on to the district's "Quantum Constellation" industrial community during the conference, bringing the total to more than 30. Officials named Yupan Quantum Intelligence, Yunmao Quantum and Zhongke Huguang Quantum Software among the new members, as the district works toward a homegrown supply chain covering everything from raw materials to finished machines and software.

State planning drives the strategy

The push fits into a much larger bet. China named quantum technology the first of seven "future industries" in its 15th Five-Year Plan, running 2026 to 2030, and the numbers behind that bet are substantial: the country's quantum computing sector pulled in 11.56 billion yuan ($1.61 billion) in revenue in 2025, with growth above 30%, according to QED-C's State of the Global Quantum Industry 2026 report, and the number of Chinese quantum companies grew from 93 in 2023 to 153 in 2024, according to China Briefing. China also runs the world's largest carrier-grade quantum communications network, with more than 12,000 kilometers of fiber, 145 nodes across 80 cities, and 6.8 million users. The Beijing conference also marked the formal debut of the Beijing Quantum-Classical Integration Innovation Center, a China Telecom Quantum Group-controlled effort that will build infrastructure spanning multiple types of quantum hardware, develop domestic quantum software, and pair quantum computing with AI and conventional supercomputing, initially aimed at finance, energy, biomedicine and weather forecasting. For now, Beijing's bet is that state-directed coordination — pairing companies, capital and customers before the technology is ready — can manufacture commercial demand faster than the market can. It's a wager the U.S., with its venture-backed, customer-driven model, isn't making. Sources for this article include: TheQuantumInsider.com Forbes.com RealClearDefense.com
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