Chinese chipmaker Zhaoxin has announced that its x86-compatible processor "ZX86" will be deployed at a scale of more than 34,000 units in a smart-education project for primary and secondary schools in China's Hainan Province[1]. According to the company, it was the only domestic computing platform selected, making the case a notable example of Chinese-made chips gaining ground in the education sector. All performance figures cited here are based on the company's own announcement.

A Full Sweep of the Hainan Education Project

According to Zhaoxin, the ZX86 processor secured a 100 percent win in the "smart-education infrastructure project" targeting primary and secondary schools in Hainan Province, with deployment confirmed at a scale of more than 34,000 complete machines[1]. The company says it became the only domestic computing core adopted in the project[1].

The terminals being introduced are planned to broadly cover key teaching scenarios across the province's primary and secondary schools, including IT classrooms, student PC labs, teacher lesson-preparation terminals, and electronic whiteboards (large interactive displays)[1]. Zhaoxin notes that this is not the first time ZX86 has been adopted in Hainan's smart-education projects: it had already won a large share of the province's procurement in 2025, and the company frames this full order as a renewed endorsement following an extended track record of operation[1].

In China, under a movement known as "Xinchuang" (a policy push to localize information technology), there is a continuing drive to replace foreign-made semiconductors and software with domestic products. Education is one of its targets, and this case fits within that context.

Carrying Over Existing Software Assets Through x86 Compatibility

The distinguishing feature of ZX86 is its native compatibility with the x86 instruction set[1]. x86 compatibility means support for the instruction set assumed by much of the PC software built for Windows and similar platforms, offering the advantage of running existing business software without major rewrites.

Zhaoxin says that, without going through a virtual machine or a binary-translation layer, the chip can directly run mainstream education software such as WPS Office, Tencent Meeting, electronic whiteboards, electronic classrooms, teaching-management systems, and Scratch for programming education[1]. It supports the Chinese domestic operating systems Galaxy Kylin and UOS, and the company states it has been adapted to more than 200,000 applications and peripherals in total[1]. Because existing teaching systems run as-is, the company cites the elimination of teacher retraining and student adjustment as a deployment benefit[1].

On performance, the higher-end "KaiXian (KX-7000)" series is said to reach clock speeds of up to 3.7 GHz, supporting tasks such as office work, file compression and decompression, video encoding, and high-resolution courseware rendering[1]. As a concrete example, the company says a 10 GB large file launches in 4 seconds, and it emphasizes that because a large language model can be run locally on the device, AI can be used without sending data outside[1]. Combined with a GPU accelerator card, it can also handle high-load tasks such as 3D modeling in Blender and image processing[1].

National Cryptography Support and a Domestic Ecosystem

On security, Zhaoxin states that the ZX86 processor supports the SM2/SM3/SM4 national cryptographic algorithms (China's national encryption standards) at the hardware level, and provides a set of protective functions including trusted boot, secure boot, and key management[1]. As a state-controlled enterprise, the company claims it holds its own intellectual property rights and therefore has no licensing dependency or backdoor concerns[1].

Regarding its track record, the company says ZX86-series terminals are running across all 31 provinces of China at every education stage, from preschool through compulsory education, high school, and higher education, having served a cumulative total of several million teachers and students[1]. It frames this order as the result of an education solution that delivers "chip + complete machine + OS + applications" as an integrated package, emphasizing a configuration that combines domestic operating systems such as Galaxy Kylin and UOS with educational applications such as electronic whiteboards and electronic classrooms[1].

Note that the figures and assessments presented in this article are all based on Zhaoxin's announcement and have not undergone independent third-party verification.

Summary

Zhaoxin has announced that its x86-compatible processor "ZX86" will be deployed in full at a scale of more than 34,000 units in Hainan Province's education project. With compatibility that runs existing education software as-is, plus support for domestic operating systems and national cryptography as selling points, the move draws attention as an indicator of the localization (Xinchuang) trend advancing in China's education sector. It should be kept in mind that the performance and track-record figures are based on the company's own announcement.

Source: https://www.zhaoxin.com/news_view.aspx?nid=2&typeid=289&id=2040