Guizhou to become nation's digital hub

Guizhou province has announced plans to introduce big data technology into more than 10,000 real economy-related companies by 2022, and bring more cloud computing businesses to the region.

The move is part of the Southwest China province's aims to become a big data and cloud computing hub.

Chen Shaobo, director of the Guizhou Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said the provincial government will ramp up efforts to integrate big data into the real economy for governmental, commercial and civilian use.

"We will boost the digital economy and its added value will comprise 33 percent of the province's total GDP growth by 2022," Chen said. "In the next few years, Guizhou will further develop the cloud computing sector, launching key projects including the Guian New Area Supercomputer Center."

Buoyed by supportive government policies, Guizhou has attracted hundreds of companies to expand in the emerging big data market, including Apple Inc, Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Qualcomm Inc, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

A raft of cutting-edge technologies have been widely applied, not only in the business sector but also in the booming e-governance and civil services sectors, benefiting both local residents as well as the government.

In January, Apple said Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd, a company owned by the provincial government, will operate its iCloud services on the Chinese mainland. The move came after Apple announced last year it would open its first China data center in Guizhou. The center is part of a $1 billion investment in the province and will be operated by Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry.

In August 2017, Huawei, one of the world's largest telecom equipment makers, launched its data center project in Guizhou to meet the firm's growing need for better cloud services.

Alibaba's cloud computing arm, Alibaba Cloud, has unveiled a plan for a joint big data center and a cloud computing platform project in cooperation with the public security bureau of Guiyang, the provincial capital. The facilities will provide more robust computing power and smarter artificial intelligence algorithms, meaning vehicles with fake license plates will be automatically identified, the public security bureau said.

Guizhou's ambition to become China's digital valley has led to higher requirements in terms of supporting infrastructure, such as the improvement of communication network bandwidth and coverage.

"We will continue to improve the digital infrastructure in the region, and aim to have 3G and 4G connectivity covering all urban and rural areas in Guizhou by 2020. Moreover, we will further develop core technologies in big data, such as cloud computing, the internet of things and artificial intelligence, as well as driving forward big data security developments," Chen said.