Cutting-edge chip moves at light speed

A test production line is expected to be completed this year following Chinese breakthroughs in the development of a new type of computer chip - one that replaces electrons with light, making it incomparably faster than current chips.

The production line will put China among a handful of countries in the world capable of manufacturing integral silicon photonics chips, which will clear the bottleneck created by the physical limits of conventional chips, according to scientists in Shanghai who made the breakthroughs.

Preliminary testing confirms that the research group has mastered the means to make the chips, and orders are coming in domestically and from abroad, the group's leader said.