However, as much as it is a competitive race, the rivalry between the US and China in quantum appears to be a battle between two entirely different systems.

The US lead in quantum computing has emerged from the private sector, where competing innovations from IBM, Google, and others have racked up slow but steady advances. China’s efforts, meanwhile, are dominated by government-funded programs, a reflection of a growing tendency of the state to direct innovation toward political goals.

“While the US invests in the long-term potential of quantum computing — a less mature but highly promising technology with broad applicability across multiple industries — China focuses on the immediate and secure applications of quantum communications, a more mature set of technologies with a narrower market scope,” noted the report.