The Tianhe-2 supercomputer, developed by China's National University of Defense Technology, remains the world's most powerful computer, according to a biannual Top 500 list of supercomputers. This is the third time Tianhe-2 has topped the list.

Tianhe-2, which is Chinese for "Milky Way-2," clocks in at 33.86 petaflops, the equivalent of 33,860 trillion calculations per second. One hour of calculations by the machine would take the entire population of China 1,000 years if everyone was given a calculator.

The supercomputer is a product of China's 863 hi-tech program, which aims to reduce reliance on foreign technology. According to a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology, Tianhe-2 has provided computing support for more than 120 clients at the National Supercomputer Center in Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong Province.

The development of the C919 airliner and drug testing in the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica were both aided by Tianhe-2. The supercomputer also helped to support Guangzhou's e-government database and cloud computing storage.