Quantum scientists gather in Hefei

Top scientists and engineers from 28 countries gathered in Hefei, the capital of East China's Anhui province, for a five-day international quantum conference that began on Sunday.

The International Conference on Quantum Communication, Measurement and Computing (QCMC), brought more than 400 quantum scientists to the event that has brought experts together every two years since 1990.

The 2014 QCMC, hosted by the Hefei-based University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), is the first to be held in a developing country.

As one of the top universities in China, USTC is a top-notch quantum physics and quantum information research institute. Its facilities include the Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale and the Synergetic Innovation Center of Quantum Information and Quantum Physics.

"I have seen the amazing progress of China and especially USTC in quantum information technology in the last 20 years," said Giacomo Mauro D'Ariano, professor of the Italy-based University of Pavia.

"Twenty years ago, China was just at the very beginning of the quantum technology, while USTC now ranks one of the top institutes in the world in quantum physics and quantum information", said D'Ariano, who is also the chairman of QCMC.

Mete Atature, professor of University of Cambridge said: "The conference is an example of the vital role USTC plays in the world in the fields of quantum physics and quantum information researches. A number of universities in the world have dedicated their efforts to quantum technology, while the research environment in China is quite important for quantum technology. One of the advantages lies in the collective efforts."

China announced in 2013 that it plans to launch a quantum satellite for scientific experiment uses in 2016.

"Everything has gone smoothly so far," said Pan Jianwei, a top Chinese quantum scientist and vice president of USTC.

Pan was awarded the Quantum Communication Award in 2012 by QCMC, which announced earlier this year that the award for 2014 goes to two European scientists, Nicolas Gisin from University of Geneva and Reinhard Werner.

The awarding ceremony will be held on Tuesday in Hefei during the conference.