The economic gains speak for themselves. A recent industry report has highlighted China’s impressive advances in computing power, ranking the country as one of the best among major economies in the field.
The report has been released by Tsinghua University International Research Centre working with a Chinese IT firm. In essence, it comprehensively assessed the computing power, efficiency, application and infrastructure of 15 major economies. Results show how the country’s ever-rising computing power has become a key driver in the nation’s digital economy.
Computing power has already become an important part of the infrastructure for national economic development.
– Website, National Development and Reform Commission
Showing how computing power has become the driving force in promoting the digital economy, the report concluded that the increasing investment in this sector will have an amplified and long-term effect on economic growth.
Indeed, ICT technologies have become ubiquitous thanks to the rise of the country’s computing power. In the context of booming cloud computing, AI, 5G and other emerging technologies, analysts believe that computing power has become an important component of infrastructure that will shape China’s future technological landscape.
Moreover, China is a work in progress when it comes to its nationwide computing abilities. According to a recent policy announcement, China has started work on a megaproject to build an integrated national big data system to improve overall computing power and resource efficiency.
The project involves establishing eight national computing hubs in the country’s economic powerhouses and less developed yet resource-rich regions, plus 10 national data centre clusters, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The move comes amid a surge of demand for computing capacity as the country rides the digitalisation wave, but shortages of energy and land resources have limited the expansion of data centres in more developed regions.
By creating a national computing power network, the project will support less-developed regions with abundant renewable energy resources to store and process data transmitted from economically advanced areas to address soaring demand and regional capacity imbalances.
Statistics have shown that the scale of China’s cloud computing market, which offers a glimpse into the country’s overall computing power, exceeded 300 billion yuan ($47.24 billion) in 2021, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
Things are looking stronger ahead. According to a five-year plan released earlier this year, China aims to raise the proportion of the added value of core digital economy industries in its GDP to 10% in 2025, up from 7.8% in 2020. By 2025, China will see the digital transformation of industries reach a new level, digital public services will become more inclusive, and the digital economy governance system will improve noticeably, per the plan.
Plus, China will strengthen its support of 6G research and development, enhance innovation in strategic fields such as integrated circuits and AI and facilitate the development of new business modes, according to the plan. Recently, China installed its fifth 5G national operator, another state-owned company that be in full swing this year.
