China makes great strides in supercomputing

By Gu Yekai, People’s Daily

China has secured a top-notch position in the global supercomputing industry, holding the largest number of supercomputers in the world for years, though in the 1980s, it had to import large computers from foreign countries.

In June, the 2019 ISC High Performance conference and exhibition released its latest list of the world’s top 500 supercomputers. China has 219 supercomputers on the list, ranking first for the fourth time in a row.

The Sunway Taihulight and Tianhe-2 supercomputers continued to rank in third and fourth place on the list. Lenovo, Inspur and Zhongke Shuguang, three Chinese companies, were the top three global supercomputer manufacturers with 173, 71 and 63 supercomputer systems, respectively.

Supercomputing is the crown jewel of the computer industry. Known as the “treasure of the state” and the “engine” for technological breakthroughs, it has been widely used in scientific research, weather forecasting and other fields.

From the successful development of the first “Galaxy No. 1” supercomputer which can execute more than 100 million calculations per second in 1983 to the birth of the Shuguang series, Tianhe series and Sunway series, China has emerged as the third country in the world capable of developing high-end computer systems.

After decades of unremitting efforts, step by step, China’s supercomputing   has become a leading power in the area.

Li Zechun, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering, presided over the establishment of China’s first medium-range (10-day) numerical weather forecasting system in the 1980s. He said the negotiation process for the import of large-scale electronic computers was difficult.

To extend the weather forecast term requires the computational power to increase exponentially. “ Only a computer large enough can run the complex  programs, and it was impossible to borrow an advanced computer from foreign companies,” Li recalled.

“We have gone from zero to one, from nothing to being, and from following to transcending,” said Tong Fuyao, senior vice President of Lenovo Group.

From the establishment of Lenovo’s Supercomputing department 20 years ago, to the provision of computing technology for manned space flight and the rapid expansion of industrial application, the development of supercomputing not only confirms the great progress of the computer industry, but also reflects the rapid leap of China’s scientific and technological advancement.