China's supercomputers still fastest

China's Sunway TaihuLight and Tianhe-2 are still the world's fastest and second-fastest machines, and the Titan supercomputer in the United States was squeezed into fourth place by an upgraded Swiss system, according to the latest edition of the semiannual TOP 500 list of supercomputers released on Monday.

The Sunway TaihuLight, described by the TOP 500 list as "far and away the most powerful number cruncher on the planet", has maintained the lead since June last year, when it dethroned Tianhe-2, champion for the previous three consecutive years.

It means that a Chinese supercomputer has topped the rankings maintained by researchers in the US and Germany nine times in a row.