China's Loongson 3A6000 CPU Reaches Intel‑Level Performance with Independent LoongArch Architecture

Recent reports indicate that the Mate 60 Pro smartphone uses a domestically produced Kirin 9000S chip, highlighting breakthroughs in high‑end mobile processors.

In the broader computer chip arena, China has made significant progress with the launch of the new generation domestic CPU, the Loongson 3A6000, in Beijing.

The Loongson 3A6000 processor employs the self‑designed LoongArch instruction set, requiring no foreign licensing and representing a fully independent CPU architecture.

It also enhances binary translation support for software‑hardware co‑execution, improving translation efficiency and enabling a wider range of cross‑platform applications for complex desktop workloads.

This launch demonstrates that China’s self‑developed CPUs have reached new heights in both autonomy and performance, proving the country can produce world‑class processor designs.

Technically, the Loongson 3A6000 is a four‑core processor running at 2.5 GHz, featuring four high‑performance 6‑issue 64‑bit LA664 cores, 128‑bit vector extensions, 256‑bit advanced vector extensions, and simultaneous multithreading, yielding eight logical cores. Compared with its predecessor, the 3A5000, single‑thread performance improves by 60 % and multi‑thread performance doubles.

The chip integrates a dual‑channel DDR4‑3200 controller and a secure trusted module, offering secure boot solutions and support for national cryptographic applications.

Third‑party testing by the China Electronics Standardization Institute shows that at 2.5 GHz the Loongson 3A6000 scores 43.1 (integer) and 54.6 (floating‑point) on SPEC CPU 2006 single‑thread benchmarks, and 155 and 140 respectively on multi‑thread tests; DDR4‑3200 memory bandwidth exceeds 42 GB/s, and Unixbench scores over 7400.

Overall, the Loongson 3A6000’s performance is comparable to Intel’s 10th‑generation Core i3‑10100F quad‑core processor, a notable achievement given many users still run older 8th‑ or 9th‑gen CPUs.

At the product launch, Loongson CEO Hu Weiwu stated that after years of “catch‑up” work, the gap between the 3A6000 and mainstream processors has been essentially closed.

Historically, the original Loongson 1 (2002) lagged Pentium 4 by over 20×, while the 3A5000 (2021) narrowed the gap to less than 1×, matching a third‑generation i3; the 3A6000 achieves parity within just two years.

The Loongson group was founded in 2001, the company in 2008, and began commercial operations in 2010. After more than two decades of breakthroughs, it is now developing higher‑performance server CPUs.

The upcoming LoongArch architecture is completely independent of both the Wintel (Microsoft + Intel) and AA (ARM + Android) ecosystems, with its own instruction set, ABI, and top‑level design.

LoongArch now supports a Linux software stack alongside ecosystems such as UnionTech, Kylin, OpenEuler, and open‑source HarmonyOS, and is compatible with major applications like WeChat, WPS, QQ, and DingTalk.

Loongson plans to open the market for the next‑generation products in 2025, achieve a fully autonomous IT ecosystem by 2030, and establish a third ecosystem beyond Wintel and AA by 2035.