When talking about the big players in supercomputing, China certainly comes to mind. However, a recent Wall Street Journal article by Bob Davis, suggests that the country might not be using their HPC resources to their fullest potential.
Davis describes some of the advancements China has achieved through the use of its supercomputers. Projects include modeling advanced warplanes, genetics research, and designing spacecraft. The article also notes a report from the Memorial Institute in Columbus, Ohio, which pointed out that China’s R&D spending outpaced even technology superpower Japan in 2010.
Unlike other regions though, Chinese supercomputers commonly assist local projects, since regional politicians can decide how the resources will be used. That’s because their HPC funding model is unique. Cities in China have a much larger financial stake in these supercomputer projects compared to the US, Europe and elsewhere.
For example, in Shenzen, in southern China, the city government paid 75 percent of the cost for their supercomputing center. This is the home of Nebulae, the fourth fastest system on the Top500 list. It’s duties include storm warning prediction, improvement of healthcare services, and video animation. There is little chance the machine will be used for “big science” applications like climate change. Here, scientists typically lack the freedom to engage in unendorsed research.
The result is that the technology is being used to solve more practical problems and help modernize industries like healthcare, aviation and automobile manufacturing. Davis believes this highlights the nation’s current standing “That is important economically, but it is also a reminder that China remains a developing country whose main goal is to close the economic and technology gaps with richer nations,” he writes.
Beyond the project choices for China’s supercomputers, much less investment is devoted to software development compared to the United States. In most cases, the Chinese spend less than 10 percent of their HPC funding on software development, whereas the US spends roughly 30 percent, a figure many still consider too low.
According to Qian Depei, researcher at Beihang University, “The strategy has been never to lead, but to follow,” adding that most countries think China is much further advanced than it really is.
Takeaway
Davis paints a picture of China that shows a far less competitive HPC industry than their hardware prowess may suggest. However, this doesn’t mean the country is uncompetitive. China has 74 computers on the Top500 list and is the second highest investor of HPC in the world. Changes in how that money is spent could make the country a much more formidable supercomputing power.