China invests $6.1 billion in computing data center project, official says

China has invested over 43.5 billion yuan ($6.12 billion) in a nationwide project to build computing data centers over the past years, a senior government official said on Thursday, amid tech export restrictions from the United States.

Liu Liehong, head of China’s National Data Bureau, disclosed the figure, which is current as of end-June, at an industry conference in the southwestern city of Guiyang, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Beijing officially launched the initiative, dubbed “Eastern Data, Western Computing”, in early 2022 as part of President Xi Jinping’s push to build a “digital China”.

China’s massive investment in computing comes as it faces increasing restrictions from the United States, which has limited exports of some advanced computing products, including those from industry leader Nvidia in recent years.

In response, China has been ramping up efforts to develop its own advanced computing capabilities.

The “Eastern Data, Western Computing” project includes plans to construct eight major data center hubs, primarily located in the western regions. This strategy aims to utilize the abundant energy resources in the west and transfer computing power to the economic hubs along the coast.

Beyond direct government spending, Beijing has also sought to attract other types of investment, including private capital.

The eight data center hubs have drawn more than 200 billion yuan in total investment, Liu said.

He added that the project has installed over 1.95 million server racks, with about 63% of them currently in use.