China Claims Computing Crown with ‘Lianshine’ As the Fastest Supercomputer
China has reclaimed the title of the world’s fastest supercomputer for the first time since 2017, overtaking the United States in a major milestone for high-performance computing. A new supercomputer named Lianshine, installed at China’s National Supercomputing Center, achieved a performance of 2.198 exaflops, surpassing El Capitan, the previous leader located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the
China has reclaimed the title of the world’s fastest supercomputer for the first time since 2017, overtaking the United States in a major milestone for high-performance computing. A new supercomputer named Lianshine, installed at China’s National Supercomputing Center, achieved a performance of 2.198 exaflops, surpassing El Capitan, the previous leader located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the United States.
According to data from Top500.org, the organization responsible for ranking the world’s supercomputers, Lianshine is the first supercomputer to exceed 2 exaflops using only central processing units (CPUs) without relying on graphics processing units (GPUs).
Built Despite Restrictions
China achieved the breakthrough despite extensive U.S. technology restrictions, thanks to its unique system architecture. While most leading supercomputers rely heavily on NVIDIA or AMD GPUs for artificial intelligence workloads and advanced computing tasks, Lianshine follows a completely different approach.
The system is powered by a custom-designed Chinese processor featuring 304 cores. Altogether, it incorporates approximately 13.79 million cores operating at a clock speed of 1.55 GHz.
The massive machine requires about 42.2 megawatts of electricity to operate. However, it delivers 52.07 gigaflops per watt, making it highly energy-efficient by modern supercomputing standards.
Dr. Jack Dongarra, one of the organizers of the Top500 ranking, told The New York Times, “It is a very impressive system. They have surpassed us by building their own CPU-based architecture without depending on GPUs.”
Diversity in the Exascale Club
Although China now holds the top position, there are currently five supercomputers worldwide that have crossed the exascale threshold of one exaflop or more. Of these, three are located in the United States, one in China, and one in Germany.
According to the latest ranking:
- Lianshine (China) — 2.198 exaflops
- El Capitan (United States) — 1.809 exaflops
- Frontier (United States) — 1.353 exaflops
- Aurora (United States) — 1.012 exaflops
- Jupiter Booster (Germany) — 1.000 exaflops
Top500 noted that no single technology now dominates the supercomputing landscape. Organizations are increasingly building systems using a diverse range of technologies, including processors and accelerators from Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, and custom-designed architectures.
Privately Developed Innovation
Due to geopolitical tensions and technology restrictions imposed by the United States, China typically keeps details of its supercomputing projects confidential. However, according to a report by The New York Times, Lianshine was developed entirely through private-sector investment without government grants or state funding.
As a result, its developers were able to submit the system for international Top500 benchmarking without legal complications. Nevertheless, the identity of the company that manufactured the processors and the specific silicon technology used remain undisclosed for strategic reasons.
//DBTech/BMT/OR//
