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China technology
EconomyChina Economy

China’s smart computing gets upgrade as AI demand, tech restrictions drive expansion

  • China saw large increases in its smart computing power over the last year as tech trade curbs, AI blitz drive more resources into sector

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China’s capacity for smart computing, essential in powering technologies like large language models, has grown significantly in the past year. Photo: AFP
Mia Nurmamat
China’s capacity for smart computing has undergone rapid growth in the past year, driven by a market frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) large language models and the country’s multivariate efforts to bolster its tech industry, shore up growth and guard against containment measures taken against the sector by the United States.

Smart computing power now accounts for 30 per cent of the country’s total capacity, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. Per a July report from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), this was an increase in proportion of nearly 5 percentage points since June of last year, with smart computing’s share expected to reach 35 per cent by 2025.

Smart computing, as opposed to general computing, focuses on handling complex algorithms and large-scale unstructured data using high-performance graphics processing units. This can help companies train large models faster and at lower cost, a pressing concern after restrictions laid down by Washington have limited China’s access to high-performance chips.
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The world’s second-largest economy is unifying its computing resources to speed up tech development as these and similar curbs escalate. By the end of May, China had over 10 smart computing centres with high-performance clusters.

Beijing is also eager to achieve technological self-reliance as it searches for new sources of economic growth, seeing great potential in the dividends up for grabs on the bleeding edge.
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According to estimates from CAICT, every 1 per cent increase in computing power contributes around 0.2 per cent to the country’s economic growth, and 0.4 per cent to growth in the digital economy. The institute also calculated that every yuan invested in the industry will generate three to four times that amount in economic output.

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