‘Two sessions’ 2022: China’s blueprint for national computing network takes the spotlight, sparking market speculation
- Plan to channel computing resources from the country’s eastern regions to more impoverished western regions, was rolled out by China’s NDRC
- Delegates at the ‘two sessions’ political gathering have made various suggestions as to how China should build the mega network
China’s plan to build a national computing network to improve capacity is now under the spotlight at the country’s annual political gala, with the project generating speculation of an investment boom.
The plan to channel computing resources from the country’s eastern regions to more impoverished western regions, was rolled out by China’s top state planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) last month, aimed at increasing the country’s computing capacity.
There will be eight integrated computing hubs in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the eastern Yangtze River Delta region, the southwestern Chengdu-Chongqing region, the southern Greater Bay region, and energy-rich areas that include Guizhou and Gansu provinces as well as the autonomous regions of Inner Mongolia and Ningxia Hui, according to the NDRC.
The eight hubs will be the major junctions connecting the whole computing network, aimed at facilitating the country’s development in cloud computing and big data.
Currently, most of China’s data centres sit in eastern regions, with many affected by land and energy shortages, Sun Wei, a senior official at the NDRC, told state media Xinhua. In contrast, western regions have ample renewable energy to support power-hungry data computing, he added.
“This project will boost China’s data computing capacity, and also promote green development in the western regions,” said Sun.
As Beijing trumpeted the importance of the new infrastructure push, multiple delegates at the “two sessions” political gathering have made suggestions as to how China should build the mega network.
