Operators work at the Shanghai Supercomputer Center as the Chinese-made supercomputer Dawning 5000A starts operation in Shanghai, east China, June 15, 2009. The supercomputer, with a peak capability of more than 200 trillion FLOPS (Floating-point operations per second), will be used for information processing and fundamental scientific research. (Xinhua/Ren Long) Photo Gallery>>>

    SHANGHAI, June 15 (Xinhua) -- China's home-made supercomputer, Magic Cube, previously known as Dawning 5000A, went into operation Monday in Shanghai.

    It's China's first supercomputer with a speed higher than 100 trillion floating-point operations per second (teraFLOPS), said local officials. It's also the only supercomputer not in the United States to be ranked among the world's 10 fastest for computing speed.

    The supercomputer, with a peak capability of 230 teraFLOPS, will be used for information processing and fundamental scientific research at the Shanghai Supercomputer Center, the center's vice director, Yuan Jun, said.

    Magic Cube was made in the Tianjin-based Dawning Information Industry Co. last September. Sent to Shanghai on May 15, its name was chosen from among public submissions and it underwent a month of testing.

Operators work at the Shanghai Supercomputer Center as the Chinese-made supercomputer Dawning 5000A starts operation in Shanghai, east China, June 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Ren Long) Photo Gallery>>>

    According to Yuan, supercomputers are increasingly important in China's high-tech industries, such as aircraft and automobile design and nuclear energy.

    The power of supercomputers can also come in handy for researchers in the fields of new energy and biology.

    "Magic Cube will help boost China's innovation," said Yang Xianwu, vice head of the Department of High and New Technology Development and Industrialization of the Ministry of Science and Technology.

    Magic Cube 75 square meters and consumes 700 kilowatts of electricity per hour. It cost about 200 million yuan (29 million U.S. dollars) and was paid for by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Shanghai Municipal Government.