China’s digital economy: network of data centre hubs to address infrastructure imbalance between east and west
- Four of China’s top regulatory and policymaking agencies will spearhead the strategy dubbed ‘Eastern Data and Western Computing’
- The country had about 5 million data centres in 2020, up from 1.24 million in 2015

The initiative, dubbed “Eastern Data and Western Computing”, will have data gathered from the more prosperous cities along China’s eastern seaboard sent to poorer yet more spacious urban centres in the west for processing and storage.
Four of the country’s top regulatory and policymaking authorities – the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), Cyberspace Administration of China, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the National Energy Administration – will spearhead implementation of this strategy, according to the CCTV report. No timetable was given.

“In previous times, China had the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, which involved drawing water from southern rivers and supplying it to the dry north,” said Zhang Dingding, the former head of Beijing-based research firm Sootoo Institute. “I believe the new strategy has similar importance for China’s development. The internet and data are now as important as water and electricity.”