Feature Translation: Interview of entity-listed Chinese cryogenics company
A view on US restrictions by those targeted
The US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) recently added seven Chinese companies to its entity list for their activities related to quantum technologies—this included two cryogenics companies, producing refrigerators or equipment for temperatures close to absolute zero.
Cryogenics are among the main chokepoints that quantum export controls aim at. The recent new restrictions brought to mind an interesting interview I read less than a year ago, shortly after the US added a large number of Chinese quantum companies to the entity list (May 2024): This is a translation of an interview (in 2024) of Chen Jie, a graduate of Zhejiang University who founded CSSC Pride Cryogenic Technology in 2010, on the entity list since May 2024.
Chen Jie was interviewed by Huan Shi from Chip Secrets (芯片揭秘), a weekly column; the original Chinese is here.
This interview gives a glimpse into how US export controls are seen by those directly targeted. It outlines CSSC Pride's path to get there and provides insightful (but simple) technical explanations.
Some notes and memorable quotes
From nothing to leadership: Hardly any Chinese ultra-low temperature equipment companies existed in 2010, a sector dominated by Japan. Today, according to Chen Jie, CSSC Pride is the second in the world with fully independent intellectual property rights capable of mass-producing G-M cryocoolers. “It signifies that we have broken through the bottlenecks of this entire industry chain from beginning to end, and also broken through the bottlenecks in the design principles. We can achieve independent design, manufacturing, production, including rapid follow-up for some customized needs of downstream customers.”
Biggest challenge: Getting customers to be willing to try their equipment was the hardest early on. “Actually, the most difficult time was when we first started the business. At that time, the prototype machine was made, but no one, including domestic MRI manufacturers, dared to use it. Because compared to their equipment worth millions, ours was only worth over a hundred thousand. Therefore, without undergoing very high reliability verification, they would definitely not use it in batches. Thus, although we successfully developed it in 2011, it wasn't until 2016 that we started supplying MRI manufacturers in batches.” Still in 2024, Chen Jie appeals in his closing remarks to domestic downstream manufacturers to give upstream suppliers like him more trial opportunities. Here, export controls help, as they force Chinese downstream companies to pivot to domestic suppliers.
The technology CSSC Pride specializes in: G-M cryocooler (a market of 1.5 billion RMB in 2023), which can “only” cool to -271℃, used for MRI but not cold enough for many quantum technologies. Chen Jie describes how they leveraged mastering G-M cryocoolers as a building block to go to lower temperatures: “After achieving ultra-high vacuum, we can then achieve even lower temperatures based on this cryocooler, for example, a cryocooler that can reach 0.01℃ above absolute zero. At that point, the cryocooler can be used in our quantum science, such as quantum information, quantum computing, etc., and this field happens to be one that the United States is very wary of.”
Timeline of controls: His account of US export controls on dilution refrigerators is interesting. Talk about leveraging dilution refrigerators as a chokepoint appeared on Reuters already in 2019, but dilution refrigerators were to my knowledge only added to the Commerce Control List in September 2024. According to Chen Jie however, exports were actually already blocked from 2022 onwards: “In 2018, our group approved the establishment of such a project [referring to refrigeration for quantum computing]. At that time, the US could still sell products to us, but by 2022, the US began to prohibit the export of a series of dilution refrigerators used for quantum computing to China, including all related components. We launched our product in 2023, and in April 2024, we were placed on the "Entity List" by the U.S. Department of Commerce.”
Chen Jie expresses a lot of confidence in their ability to deal with the export controls resulting from the entity listing, and did not seem surprised in the first place:
Host: “Many times we call it the Honor Roll [光荣榜 - guāngróng bǎng]. Is the impact of this U.S. measure on your current supply chain significant?”
Chen Jie: “Actually, we had already made some corresponding preparations in advance.”
Host: “You anticipated that the U.S. would take such measures, right?”
Chen Jie: “That's right, because what we are doing would definitely make the Americans wary. Moreover, whether it's the upstream, midstream, or downstream of this industry chain, we are moving faster than the US, so the US is bound to be afraid.”
Apparently, applications to quantum computing have already started:
Host: “It can be said that we have shaken the core competitive sticking point [卡点 - kǎdiǎn] of the China-US tech war. Has the product you have now established a project for already started being applied in quantum computing? Are there successfully delivered machines?”
Chen Jie: “Yes, there are, and we currently hold quite a few orders because domestic companies can no longer buy these cryocoolers [from the US].”
The Interview
[The following is machine-translated, I do not take any responsibility for accuracy; find the original Chinese here.]
-271℃! How Does a G-M Cryocooler Achieve Ultra-Low Temperatures?
Huan Shi [幻实 - Huàn Shí] (Host): Welcome everyone to Chip Secrets [芯片揭秘 - Xīnpiàn Jiēmì]. I'm Huan Shi. Beside me is Mr. Chen Jie [陈杰 - Chén Jié], Deputy General Manager of CSSC Pride (Nanjing) Cryogenic Technology Co., Ltd. [中船鹏力（南京）超低温技术有限公司 - Zhōng Chuán Péng Lì (Nánjīng) Chāo Dīwēn Jìshù Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī]. Welcome, Director Chen, to Chip Secrets. Some time ago, the U.S. Department of Commerce updated the Entity List again, adding 37 research institutions and companies related to quantum technology to the list, and CSSC Pride (Nanjing) Cryogenic Technology was included among them.
Entity List: Refers to the export control regulations established by the United States to safeguard its national security interests. Before obtaining a license, U.S. exporters are prohibited from helping entities on the list acquire any items subject to these regulations. On May 9, 2024, 37 entities were added to the "Entity List," including 22 Chinese quantum technology research and development institutions added for "acquiring or attempting to acquire U.S.-origin items for the development of quantum technology capabilities." These include the University of Science and Technology of China [中国科学技术大学 - Zhōngguó Kēxué Jìshù Dàxué], Beijing Academy of Quantum Information Sciences [北京量子院 - Běijīng Liàngzǐ Yuàn], CAS Center for Excellence in Quantum Information and Quantum Physics [中科院量子创新院 - Zhōng Kē Yuàn Liàngzǐ Chuàngxīn Yuàn], Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences [中科院物理所 - Zhōng Kē Yuàn Wùlǐ Suǒ], and several research institutes under the China Electronics Technology Group Corporation [中国电科集团 - Zhōngguó Diànkē Jítuán], encompassing almost all top-tier domestic quantum research institutions.
Regarding this expansion of the Entity List, the reason given by the U.S. Department of Commerce is that our achievements in quantum technology could seriously impact U.S. national security. The reason is as absurd as always [一如既往地离谱 - yī rú jì wǎng de lípǔ], but it's actually not hard to see that China's quantum technology has already posed a certain threat to the United States. So today, I want to chat with Director Chen about what kind of products and technologies are attracting such attention from the U.S.
Chen Jie (Guest): Okay. In 2010, I graduated from Zhejiang University [浙江大学 - Zhèjiāng Dàxué]. At that time, there were almost zero domestic companies making ultra-low temperature equipment. The market was mostly monopolized by Japanese and American equipment, including the G-M cryocoolers we now produce at a rate of a thousand sets per year. This equipment can reach -271℃ and is mainly used for medical MRI. But back then, Japan was the main supplier of low-temperature cryocoolers for MRI.
Huan Shi (Host): Were G-M cryocoolers mostly made by Japan before?
Chen Jie (Guest): That's right, their industrialization development was quite good. I majored in small-scale low-temperature cryocoolers at Zhejiang University. At that time, a good opportunity arose: a leader in our industry led us to establish a company, originally named Nanjing Code Cryogenic Technology Co., Ltd. [南京柯德超低温技术有限公司 - Nánjīng Kē Dé Chāo Dīwēn Jìshù Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī]. Back then, we began to focus on making small low-temperature cryocoolers for MRI. MRI requires liquid helium because the operating temperature of superconducting magnets is 4.2K (-269℃), the temperature of liquid helium at one atmosphere, to achieve a very large magnetic field for clear imaging. Therefore, small low-temperature cryocoolers are crucial equipment; they can prevent liquid helium from evaporating, maintaining a zero-evaporation state 24 hours a day.
G-M Cryocooler: The Gifford-McMahon cycle cryocooler (G-M cryocooler for short), invented by Gifford and McMahon in 1956, is a regenerative cryocooler based on the principle of adiabatic gas expansion. It achieves refrigeration through continuous Simon expansion via valve timing. Its thermodynamic process consists of a cycle comprising two isobaric processes and two isochoric processes. Cryocoolers based on this cycle have advantages such as long operating periods, stable and reliable performance, low vibration, and ease of use, hence they are widely used in satellite communications and other fields.
Huan Shi (Host): Could you tell us about the technical route of your products? How does it achieve low-temperature refrigeration?
Chen Jie (Guest): Our product technology is called the regenerative deep cryogenic refrigeration method. Its principle is different from our ordinary air conditioners. Air conditioning is a forward cycle, whereas our low-temperature cryocooler has both inflow and outflow in one channel. Therefore, we need a regenerator to collect this part of the energy. Each inflow and outflow releases and collects a portion of energy, and the temperature gradually decreases accordingly. The G-M cryocooler was proposed by Gifford and McMahon. This product can reach deep low temperatures, but there is relatively little equipment on the market for civilian applications, so few people know about it.
Huan Shi (Host): The refrigeration methods we usually hear about are solutions like air conditioners and compressors, but your technical route is completely different, right?
Chen Jie (Guest): That's right. Ordinary technical routes cannot achieve such low temperatures.
Huan Shi (Host): In this environment, besides your solution, are there other technical routes?
Chen Jie (Guest): Yes, there are, but our solution is currently the most economical, affordable, structurally simplest, and most reliable one that has been commercialized.
Huan Shi (Host): Could you explain where the cost-effectiveness of this solution is higher than general solutions?
Chen Jie (Guest): In the deep cryogenic field, helium gas is used as the working fluid. We also have a forward cycle refrigeration method, but at that time, the helium refrigeration involved turbine expansion, which had very large cooling capacity and a very complex structure. That method is suitable when, for our Big Science projects [大科学工程 - dà kēxué gōngchéng], a lot of liquid helium and energy needs to be generated.
We have two types of small cryocoolers. One is called the Stirling cryocooler, which is high-frequency and also has an inflow-outflow form, but it can only reach about -250℃. To reach the liquid helium temperature range of -269℃, the frequency needs to be lowered. The G-M cryocooler we are currently making is capable of doing this job.
Stirling Cryocooler: The Stirling refrigerator (also known as ST refrigerator) is an electrically driven mechanical refrigerator. In 1816, O.R. Stirling proposed a thermodynamic cycle consisting of two isothermal processes and two isochoric regenerative processes, known as the Stirling cycle, also called the constant volume regenerative cycle. The reverse of this cycle used for refrigeration is called the reverse Stirling cycle, or Stirling refrigeration cycle, and refrigerators operating on the reverse Stirling cycle are called Stirling refrigerators. Stirling refrigerators come in integral and split types. Stirling refrigerators have advantages such as compact structure, wide operating temperature range, fast startup, high efficiency, and simple operation.
Huan Shi (Host): Are there many domestic peers in this track [赛道 - sàidào]?
Chen Jie (Guest): There are domestic peers who started earlier than us, but none have achieved temperatures as low or efficiency as high as ours. Of course, we also faced numerous difficulties [困难重重 - kùnnán chóngchóng] when we first started, learning from some experiences [借鉴了一些经验 - jièjiànle yīxiē jīngyàn] along the way, and went through continuous R&D iterations. Today, our company is the second in the world with fully independent intellectual property rights globally, capable of mass-producing G-M cryocoolers in the liquid helium temperature range. The first is Sumitomo [住友 - Zhùyǒu] of Japan.
Huan Shi (Host): Japan is indeed outstanding in the field of cryogenic refrigeration. So, from starting the business until now, do you feel there is still a large gap between us and the industry leader?
Chen Jie (Guest): We have moved from initially following and running alongside [跟跑、并跑 - gēnpǎo, bìngpǎo] them, to now having products on the market that surpass theirs. Last year, we released the world's largest 4K G-M cryocooler, capable of achieving a cooling capacity of up to 4 watts at just 4.2K.
Huan Shi (Host): What does this signify?
Chen Jie (Guest): It signifies that we have broken through the bottlenecks of this entire industry chain from beginning to end, and also broken through the bottlenecks in the design principles. We can achieve independent design, manufacturing, production, including rapid follow-up for some customized needs of downstream customers.
Huan Shi (Host): It has indeed been a very difficult journey. When you first started the business, did you ever imagine achieving the success you have today?
Chen Jie (Guest): Actually, when we first started, we only thought about how to do the most basic model of equipment well and successfully use it in batches for MRI.
Leveraging the Core Bottleneck? Cryogenic Refrigeration Powers New Breakthroughs in Quantum Computing!
Huan Shi (Host): After achieving the current progress, will your customer market direction be broader than before? What areas are suitable for adopting your refrigeration mode?
Chen Jie (Guest): Initially, our customer market was oriented towards MRI, and even now, it remains our largest customer application market. Because with this tool, we can "build blocks" [搭积木 - dā jīmù] on this foundation. For example, by making some vacuum chambers, we can supply cryogenic vacuum pumps for semiconductor equipment. This also uses the principle of cryogenic refrigerators to freeze them down to deep low temperatures. After achieving ultra-high vacuum, we can then achieve even lower temperatures based on this cryocooler, for example, a cryocooler that can reach 0.01℃ above absolute zero. At that point, the cryocooler can be used in our quantum science, such as quantum information, quantum computing, etc., and this field happens to be one that the United States is very wary of.
Huan Shi (Host): That's right. I remember many years ago we talked about how quantum computing has extremely high environmental requirements. At that time, everyone was worried about the temperature issue because it was difficult to provide such conditions. I didn't expect to meet a company today that can solve this problem.
Chen Jie (Guest): In 2018, our group approved the establishment of such a project. At that time, the US could still sell products to us, but by 2022, the US began to prohibit the export of a series of dilution refrigerators used for quantum computing to China, including all related components. We launched our product in 2023, and in April 2024, we were placed on the "Entity List" by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Huan Shi (Host): Many times we call it the Honor Roll [光荣榜 - guāngróng bǎng]. Is the impact of this U.S. measure on your current supply chain significant?
Chen Jie (Guest): Actually, we had already made some corresponding preparations in advance.
Huan Shi (Host): You anticipated that the U.S. would take such measures, right?
Chen Jie (Guest): That's right, because what we are doing would definitely make the Americans wary. Moreover, whether it's the upstream, midstream, or downstream of this industry chain, we are moving faster than the US, so the US is bound to be afraid.
Huan Shi (Host): It can be said that we have shaken the core competitive sticking point [卡点 - kǎdiǎn] of the China-US tech war. Has the product you have now established a project for already started being applied in quantum computing? Are there successfully delivered machines?
Chen Jie (Guest): Yes, there are, and we currently hold quite a few orders because domestic companies can no longer buy these cryocoolers [from the US].
Huan Shi (Host): So in this context, it's really remarkable that a Chinese supply chain company can break through the blockade. Will you expand into civilian applications later on?
Chen Jie (Guest): From the beginning of the project, we anticipated that this path would be very difficult. Even wanting to lower the temperature by 0.1℃ might mean no progress for half a year. Starting from 2018, we were stuck for about half a year to a year. There are currently relatively few products for civilian use. The main areas involved are still medical devices and semiconductors. Some scientific instruments we developed have replaced imports. Previously, laboratories were uniformly filled with equipment from developed countries, but now our Chinese equipment is also among them.
Huan Shi (Host): How miniaturized are your G-M cryocooler products? What is their footprint?
Chen Jie (Guest): The height footprint is only about 400-plus millimeters, and the diameter is about 100 millimeters. Its starting temperature state is 300K, while the lowest temperature can reach -271℃.
Huan Shi (Host): If the cryogenic chambers placed in semiconductor equipment are very large, it's also a burden for the factory.
Chen Jie (Guest): Yes, so miniaturization is necessary.
Huan Shi (Host): What is the approximate price range of your products?
Chen Jie (Guest): Approximately between 100,000 and 200,000 [RMB]. The cryocooler for quantum chips is another type; it involves adding other helium-3, helium-4 dilution refrigeration components onto our small cryocooler base to lower the temperature step by step.
Huan Shi (Host): What temperature can the small cryocooler reach?
Chen Jie (Guest): It can reach -271℃. Then, by pumping a vacuum on liquid helium to reduce pressure, it can reach -272℃. Then using helium-3, helium-4, it can reach -273℃, and so on, gradually lowering the temperature.
Huan Shi (Host): It feels like climbing Mount Everest [珠峰 - Zhūfēng]; a 1℃ difference might mean crossing a mountain peak. Previously, when we mentioned low temperatures, we thought of low-temperature superconductivity. Today, it's finally low-temperature engineering.
Chen Jie (Guest): Actually, low-temperature superconductivity also uses many of our products, similar to superconducting maglev, particle accelerators in some Big Science projects, and many superconducting electronic applications, such as single-photon detectors for quantum information, which use superconducting nanowires that need to be cooled down by us. Also, the recently popular controlled nuclear fusion uses high-temperature superconductivity, and our cryogenic equipment can provide an ultra-low temperature environment for this high-temperature superconductor to achieve superconductivity. Although it doesn't involve the civilian level, it is actually closely related.
Huan Shi (Host): What is the price range of your most expensive equipment?
Chen Jie (Guest): The most expensive is a set of equipment costing over twenty million [RMB]. Because different gases have different physical properties, they need to be separated and processed using cryogenic methods. This set of equipment separates neon and helium from the air using cryogenic methods.
Huan Shi (Host): Where is this set of equipment being used now? Are there commercial customers?
Chen Jie (Guest): Yes, like special gases used in semiconductors. For example, lithography machines require neon gas. We provide equipment that can produce neon gas for customers to use. After producing neon gas, gas mixtures are made to be used as the filling gas for the light source inside semiconductor lithography machines.
Is the Future Trend in Ultra-Low Temperature Refrigeration Already Obvious [明牌 - míngpái]?
Huan Shi (Host): So CSSC Pride (Nanjing) Cryogenic Technology not only sells refrigeration equipment but also purification equipment. It feels like the application scenarios are quite rich. Thank you, Director Chen, for sharing so many products and technology application scenarios with us. It makes me feel that China has indeed made very extensive layouts across the entire industry chain. On your entrepreneurial journey so far, could you tell us about the most difficult moment, or the one that remains freshest in your memory [记犹新 - jì yóu xīn]?
Chen Jie (Guest): Actually, the most difficult time was when we first started the business. At that time, the prototype machine was made, but no one, including domestic MRI manufacturers, dared to use it. Because compared to their equipment worth millions, ours was only worth over a hundred thousand. Therefore, without undergoing very high reliability verification, they would definitely not use it in batches. Thus, although we successfully developed it in 2011, it wasn't until 2016 that we started supplying MRI manufacturers in batches.
During those five years in between, we worked on many applications based on cryogenic refrigerators. Since others didn't dare to use them, we used them ourselves. We applied this set of equipment in various scenarios and then delivered them to various downstream manufacturers, simultaneously verifying the reliability of our cryocoolers again. That period was very difficult; we did many things, but the team's technical strength improved very quickly, even though cash flow was tight at that time.
Huan Shi (Host): Because the product hadn't gained full customer acceptance, it was hard to generate significant revenue.
Chen Jie (Guest): Indeed, there is a relatively difficult period before achieving mass production. After gaining everyone's recognition, things became much simpler, and some foreign companies also started approaching us for cooperation.
Huan Shi (Host): That's still very praiseworthy. Could you predict for us what kind of trend the industry will enter in the next 5 to 10 years?
Chen Jie (Guest): Okay. Firstly, in the field of MRI, much of the previous equipment faces upgrades, renovations, or even replacement. Therefore, for the MRI field, the market size will continue to increase in the next 5 to 10 years. So, we still need to refine and strengthen our work in this area, and cooperate with the main equipment manufacturers [主机厂 - zhǔjī chǎng] to make newer, more energy-efficient products with higher reliability and user-friendliness. Secondly, for the semiconductor field, concerning AI computing power, autonomous driving, and various image recognition aspects, I believe at least the Chinese market will definitely continue to expand.
Huan Shi (Host): And now the issue of heat dissipation is receiving more and more attention. I think AI is not just about energy consumption, but also about the problem of heat. This is also an important track we can focus on in the future.
Chen Jie (Guest): I strongly agree with this point. In the future, we will still cooperate with superconductivity because many research institutions are now trying to make superconducting chips. By cooling them to a certain temperature to achieve superconductivity, the energy consumption becomes very low, and very little heat is generated. The future market will continuously expand with the application of superconductivity. Therefore, I believe the field of ultra-low temperatures still has quite significant prospects.
Huan Shi (Host): Finally, is there anything you would like to appeal for publicly?
Chen Jie (Guest): I would like to appeal to the domestic semiconductor industry and medical device manufacturers to give our upstream equipment and component suppliers more trial opportunities, allowing products to be fully verified, thereby achieving iterative upgrades and technological innovation. And to work together with the main equipment manufacturers to make equipment better and superior, providing the latest, most cutting-edge products, even surpassing those from the US and Japan, accelerating the development of our semiconductor and medical device industries.
Huan Shi (Host): Yes, the development of the entire industry definitely requires the upstream and downstream to work together to push forward. After chatting with Director Chen today, I know you have already, at a certain stage, attracted countermeasures from international giants. I believe this is a great success; otherwise, the other party wouldn't treat you as a competitor. We also hope that more people in the industry dare to face such challenges and achieve such self-breakthroughs! Finally, we wish CSSC Pride (Nanjing) Cryogenic Technology increasingly better development.
In the current development of the ultra-low temperature refrigeration field both domestically and internationally, the G-M cryocooler is playing an increasingly important role. With its efficient and stable refrigeration performance, the G-M cryocooler is widely used in research laboratories, medical equipment, semiconductor manufacturing, and other fields. According to relevant reports, the global G-M cryocooler market size was approximately 1.52 billion RMB in 2023. It is projected that from 2023 to 2029, the global G-M cryocooler market will continue to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%, reaching a market size of 2.14 billion RMB by 2029. In 2023, China's G-M cryocooler market size was approximately 480 million RMB, accounting for 31.6% of the global market share. Globally, major G-M cryocooler manufacturers include Sumitomo Heavy Industries [住友重工 - Zhùyǒu Zhònggōng] of Japan, Edwards [爱德华 - Àidéhuá] of the UK, Thales Cryogenics of France, Cryomech of the US, Advanced Research Systems of the US, and China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation Pengli [中船重工鹏力 - Zhōng Chuán Zhònggōng Péng Lì] of China, among others.
Quantum computers require experiments based on low-temperature environments for superconductors, semiconductors, etc., and the dilution refrigerator is the key core equipment for building superconducting quantum computers, equivalent to a "quantum computing air conditioner" [量子计算空调 - liàngzǐ jìsuàn kōngtiáo], providing an extremely low-temperature operating environment close to absolute zero for superconducting quantum computing chips. In recent years, several of our country's scientific research technologies have achieved major breakthroughs, marking an important step towards the independent and controllable [自主可控 - zìzhǔ kěkòng] development of China's quantum computer technology. However, these achievements have also attracted wariness from the United States. Consequently, the US has repeatedly issued export control regulations against our country. Just on May 9, 2024, the United States updated the "Entity List" again; among the 37 Chinese entities added, 22 are related to quantum computing. This demonstrates that the development of quantum technology holds significant scientific importance and strategic value, and will lead the direction of a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. Therefore, technologies in related fields such as cryogenic refrigeration also deserve focused investment.
[End of translation]
This is the third post of maybe many from the China ∩ Quantum Substack. Quantum tech in China; what happens where, how does it affect, and is affected by, international developments? Mostly from an S&T innovation policy angle, future posts may also include technical deepdives.