(Yicai Global) April 15 -- Twenty-five projects in China’s 10 planned national data center clusters have started since the start of this year, spurring investment of more than CNY190 billion (USD29.8 billion), according to the state planner. 

The clusters are expected to draw investment of over CNY3 trillion (USD471 billion) by the end of 2025, Sun Wei, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission’s innovation and high-tech development department, told reporters today. 

The investment in new data center clusters in western areas has grown sixfold so far this year, Sun said, adding that it showed a general trend of investment shifting from the more developed regions of China’s east to the less developed in the west. 

In February, several agencies and ministries, including the NDRC, jointly issued a document agreeing to start building national computing hubs in eight regions, including in the provinces of Guizhou and Gansu and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The plans included 10 national data center clusters, and aimed to transfer some of the computing power of eastern regions to western areas of the country.

In addition to the data hub clusters, China built 81,000 new 5G base stations in the first quarter, bringing the total number to more than 1.5 million, as well as 549,000 new gigabit network ports, taking their total to 8.41 million, with coverage for 300 million families.   

China will next “further activate the vitality of market entities and stimulate the enthusiasm of private investment,” Sun said, adding that this will be achieved through measures such as increasing the number of fields in which investment is allowed and lowering the investment-related threshold. 

Editor: Tom Litting