China's Eastern Data-Western Computing Project, a key initiative aiming to fully utilize nationwide data and computing resources, has driven social investment exceeding one trillion yuan, according to the National Data Administration on Saturday.
The project was fully launched during the 14th Five-year Plan period (2021-2025). It has established eight hubs and 10 clusters of data centers, spanning 14 provinces in eastern, central, and western China.
The project now provides about 80 percent of the country's intelligent computing power, accelerating the growth of sectors like artificial intelligence, smart manufacturing, and telemedicine.
"Before the Eastern Data-Western Computing Project was launched, 80 percent of China's computing power was concentrated in the east, while the corresponding energy resources were primarily in the west. We know that computing power needs to consume a lot of energy. This project aims to integrate energy infrastructure with computing infrastructure, so as to ensure a sustainable supply of computing power and healthy development. Additionally, it creates new industries and opportunities for growth in the western region," said Zhao Xiaofang, chief engineer of the Network Research Department at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The latest data indicates that the environmental sustainability of the project has also been increasing.
Among the eight hubs, some newly built data centers in regions like Inner Mongolia have a green electricity usage rate exceeding 85 percent.
In Qinghai, the first pilot province for the coordinated development of green computing and electricity in the country, green electricity generated from solar power is supplied directly to nearby data centers, turning into green computing power.
"This new model of direct green electricity supply reduces energy consumption in our data centers by more than 20 percent compared with the past," said Li Hongqi, head of operations and maintenance at the Sanjiangyuan National Big Data Base of China Unicom.
In the data center cluster in Wuhu City, Anhui Province, servers are fully immersed in a special liquid that boils when heated and thus takes away heat from the chips. This liquid cooling technology can save 30 percent in energy consumption for the data center.
China's Eastern Data-Western Computing Project drives social investment, green growth
