China has almost doubled its number of supercomputers , say reports , with the country now having 109 high - performance computing systems on the Top500 list of supercomputers , up 196 points from 37 in just six months . China 's Tianhe-2 has retained its top spot as the most powerful supercomputer for the sixth consecutive time . That sounds impressive, but it pales compared to 1994 to 2008's annual 90 percent growth rate. The US has , however , experienced a decline in supercomputers . Supercomputers are used to perform complex simulations to help scientific research in industries such as predicting the weather to accelerate drug discoveries .
China has almost doubled its number of supercomputers , say reports , with the country now having 109 high - performance computing systems on the Top500 list of supercomputers , up 196 points from 37 in just six months . China 's Tianhe-2 has retained its top spot as the most powerful supercomputer for the sixth consecutive time . The US has , however , experienced a decline in supercomputers . Supercomputers are used to perform complex simulations to help scientific research in industries such as predicting the weather to accelerate drug discoveries .