Chinese government boosts investment in electricity grid to support AI development

The Chinese government has pledged to increase investment and coordination in the nation’s power grid to help alleviate the pressure on the power supply from China’s fast-growing tech and artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

In the Guangdong Shaoguan cluster, one of China's top ten national data center clusters, intelligent computing cabinets are the core hardware supporting the operation of large AI models. A single cabinet can consume up to 240 kWh of electricity per day when operating at full load, roughly equivalent to the total electricity consumption of an average household for a month. In addition to the computing equipment itself, the supporting cooling and humidity control systems also generate considerable power consumption.

"The computing power we built has increased from 5,000 PetaFLOPS last year to 30,000 PetaFLOPS now, and electricity consumption has increased five to six hundred times compared to last year," said Xie Jinbao, deputy director of the development and reform bureau of Shaoguan City.

Data shows that in 2025, computing centers nationwide consumed 18.1 percent more electricity than in 2024, far exceeding the 5.2-percent growth rate for electricity consumption for the rest of the nation’s households and businesses.

To meet the rapidly growing demand for computing power, AI companies will be encouraged to "transfer" computing tasks from areas with tight power supplies to areas with surplus, to ease the burden on the power grid.

Guangzhou City faced a power shortage earlier this year but, after receiving instructions from the Southern Power Grid, organizations moved non-urgent calculation tasks from Guangzhou to the Gui'an Data Center in southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

"At that time, we detected that the load in Guangzhou was too high, so we issued real-time dispatch instructions to the China Mobile Southern Base Data Center to adjust the load," said Zhang Zihao, head of the research and development center of the Computer Engineering Company under China Southern Power Grid Digital Group.

The National Development and Reform Commission announced on July 31 that during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), four trillion yuan (about 593 billion US dollars) will be invested to promote the construction of a national integrated computing power network.

The integrated computing power network can schedule distributed computing power and regional resources across different regions, aggregate the advantages of single-point technologies into the advantages of national industrial clusters, and ultimately expand the growth space for domestic large-scale AI models.

"The 4-trillion-yuan investment in computing power networks is a crucial foundation for the future overseas expansion of our large models. First of all, it will further reduce the computing power costs of providing such services overseas and enhance the reliability of these services. This is fundamental and a basic guarantee for the future in-depth, practical, and sustainable overseas expansion of our large models," said Du Guochen, director of the Institute of E-commerce at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.

Chinese government boosts investment in electricity grid to support AI development

After more than three months at sea, members of China's 16th Arctic Ocean expedition have jointly created a painting that captures both the triumphs and trials of polar scientific research.

Organized by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the expedition deployed four ships, Xuelong, Xuelong 2, Jidi, and Tansuo 3, to study extreme environmental changes in the Arctic against the backdrop of accelerating global warming. On September 29, Xuelong and Xuelong 2 returned to Shanghai after completing their missions.

During the voyage, China Media Group (CMG) reporters aboard Xuelong invited nearly 100 crew members to collaborate on a canvas, sharing their experiences. The painting depicts the difficulties and challenges they faced, the honors and expectations of their research, and the images of those dedicated to science.

Before any crew member ever picked up a brush, the Arctic had already sketched the background with its extreme weather. Strong winds, torrents, and a harsh environment posed major challenges for the researchers.

"After staying outside for some five or ten minutes, our hands would already be frozen red. When we reached the trough of the waves [on a boat], it would look as if the waves were coming right over our heads," recalled Zhu Chengwei, an expedition member.

Despite the hardship, the researchers successfully tested and used domestically produced advanced ocean observation equipment in polar research -- one of their proudest moments, which they recorded on the canvas.

Qin Chuan, captain of the Xuelong ocean team, chose to paint a domestically produced monitor float.

"This is an Argo float we deployed, which automatically monitors ocean profiles. It has great significance for understanding the basic marine environment, and it's made in China," he said.

Xie Haixiang, director of the Xuelong laboratory, sketched a fundamental research equipment for the trip.

"I will draw a CTD (Conductivity, Temperature, and Depth instrument). The CTD is the most important equipment for ocean surveys, providing the most basic data and water samples," he said.

"Only by carrying equipment onto the Arctic sea ice yourself and lowering the instruments, can you get what you want. For instance, we take a little ocean water, and analyze what's in it, to understand the changes each year. Global warming needs to be understood through different dimensions," recalled researcher Zhu.

Beyond the canvas, what stands out even more striking are the moments of dedication: veteran members leading newcomers onto the ice, a group holding its ground in level-8 gales and heavy snow, and 30 people relaying to recover equipment stuck in the ice.

The most important element, beyond any record or image in the painting, is this group of expedition members who fear no hardship.

"Whenever I think of the polar spirit, countless images of those standing at the very front would flash before my eyes," Zhu said.

"What we have done today will benefit future generations. Although we are doing something that may seem very insignificant, I believe it will surely prove its worth in the future,"said Ning Wenfeng, another team member.

China's 16th Arctic expedition crews paint portrait of proud polar expedition moments, hardships