High-performance computing (HPC) is currently moving from the petaflops scale (1015 FLOPS) towards exascale (1018 FLOPS) computing. The leap up to exascale computing will not only be a milestone in the history of computer science, but will also bring the prospect of transformative progress in many areas, including energy, life sciences, materials chemistry and national security. Because of the vital roles played by supercomputers in science, engineering and national security, the global race to develop the first exascale supercomputer is intensifying. Since 2013, China Tianhe-2 has ranked as the fastest computer in the world. Questions now arise as to the demands and challenges to be faced in the path towards development of exascale computing capabilities, and with regard to China's prospects of continuing to have the world's leading supercomputer in the future. In an interview with NSR, Professor Zuoning Chen, senior engineer of the National Research Center of Parallel Computer Engineering and Technology and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gives her insights into the most important issues in this field, including the technical challenges when designing and implementing exascale computers, fault tolerance issues, processor architectures, interconnect bandwidths, emerging technologies for the mitigation of memory problems and the challenges facing and advantages for China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]