The Xiangshan high-performance processor is the latest effort from China to push the boundaries with RISC-V architecture
April 6, 2026 -
China’s ambition to cut its reliance on foreign semiconductor technology achieved a notable milestone this week, with the launch of two powerful chips based on the open-source RISC-V architecture.
Xiangshan, a high-performance processor unveiled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) at the Zhongguancun Forum in Beijing on Thursday, is the latest effort to push the boundaries with RISC-V architecture.
With the central processing unit (CPU) core achieving a score of 16.5 points/GHz under SPEC CPU2006, an industry-standard benchmark, its performance has reached “internationally advanced levels”, according to a report by state-backed Science and Technology Daily on Friday.
The CPU core, which executes instructions for the processor, is based on the RISC-V architecture.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
RISC-V, the fifth generation of the Reduced Instruction Set Computer, became available for chip developers to configure and customise under the Switzerland-based non-profit RISC-V International in 2015.