China overtakes US with world’s fastest supercomputer amid Trump’s quantum tech push

China in a latest computing push has dethroned the US from the list of the world's fastest supercomputers, dominating its position in the competitive tech landscape.

China’s “LineShine” system which is located at the National Supercomputer Center in Shenzhen has taken the number one spot on the TOP500 list by using the domestically designed chips, marking the country’s first appearance on the list in 3 years.

In the June 2026 edition, LineShine has overtaken the previous titleholder El Capitan. This is the supercomputer that the US government uses to create and manage its nuclear weapons stockpile. It is located at Livermore National Laboratory.

The significant milestone comes after the US President signed two executive orders on quantum computing on Monday, aimed at advancing America’s position in the tech race with China.

The first directive establishes a national goal to develop a viable, error-corrected quantum computer for scientific research by 2028. The second mandates that federal agencies migrate to post-quantum cryptography by 2031.

While LineShine is ranked first on the traditional TOP500 test, it only ranked fourth on a separate benchmark that more closely simulates AI workloads.

According to experts, the result shed light on China’s focus and priority regarding its self-sufficiency in domestic chip design rather than global superiority in AI capability.

Addison Snell, CEO of Intersect360 Research, a firm that focuses on supercomputers, said, “I’m not surprised it’s the number one system. What I’m surprised by is that they submitted it and want recognition for it.”

Another worth-noting thing is that the LineShine system does not utilize advanced AI chips and the reason could be the US export controls.

“China is hoping to convince the world export controls are useless by hoping we ignore the details," Goodrich ​added.

In 2010, China topped the TOP500 list in 2010 and until 2023 the position moved back and forth between the US and Japan. China stopped submitting its systems to the TOP500 list in 2023 as the country was grappling with chip-related export controls under the Biden administration.

The TOP500 benchmark tests are designed for traditional scientific simulations.. Therefore advanced AI-focused supercomputers built by tech giants like Microsoft, Google, and Amazon do not typically participate in the list.