Storyline: China accelerates quantum tech push with major application drive [Voice_over] As 2025 marks the United Nation's International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, China is rolling out major application plans to offer quantum computing services to users around the world. In east China's Anhui Province, a superconducting quantum computer has been opened for global public use for the first time. The system can complete complex tasks in minutes compared to the thousands of years it would take the world's fastest computer. [Sound_bite] Mao Xiaoxiao, Director, quantum products team, China Telecom's Anhui branch: "We have built an integrated computing platform that allows users to access quantum machines online. Quantum services can now support fields such as weather forecasting, biochemistry and fintech. The future use of quantum computing could become as easy as using water or electricity." [Voice_over] Anhui now has the infrastructure in place to support scaled industrial adoption of quantum applications. But there are hundreds of other use case scenarios, too. Province officials say they aim to deploy "1,000 quantum information technology application scenarios" by 2027 and then add another 2,000 by 2030. [Sound_bite] Wen Xiaojun, Head, Cybersecurity Institute at China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID): "Industry players are actively exploring the use of quantum computing in areas such as financial risk analysis and gene-sequence matching, as well as pilot applications of quantum communication technologies in autonomous driving and drone-swarm operations." [Voice_over] There are more than 100 companies in Anhui's quantum industrial chain with the capital Hefei hosting a cluster of firms covering quantum computing, communications and measurement. [Restrictions: No access Chinese mainland]