Guizhou is more than just Maotai liquor, Huangguoshu Waterfall, and Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. Today, big data has become a new calling card through which the world recognizes Guizhou.
In recent years, Guizhou has actively attracted big data enterprises and platforms, vigorously expanding and strengthening its big data industry. Leading Chinese tech giants—including Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and Huawei—have all established major operations in the province. Moreover, global technology titans such as Microsoft, Apple, Qualcomm, and Google have also built data centers in Guizhou.
Guizhou has now become one of the world’s most concentrated regions for hyperscale data centers. Among them, Tencent’s Gui’an Qixing Data Center stands out as the first civilian data center in China—and globally—to achieve the highest security and resilience standards. Covering over 700 mu (approximately 116 acres), with more than 30,000 square meters of tunnel space, it is engineered to withstand conventional weapons and even nuclear strikes, and will house Tencent’s most critical data assets.
Guizhou’s digital economy is thriving. According to the White Paper on China’s Digital Economy Development (2022), Guizhou’s digital economy grew by 20.6% in 2021—4.4 percentage points above the national average—and has ranked first nationwide for seven consecutive years.
Why has Guizhou succeeded? What are its key advantages?
First, Guizhou enjoys unique natural and geographical advantages. The region is geologically stable with low seismic activity. Located on an inland plateau, it is free from threats like typhoons and tsunamis. Since electricity accounts for 60–70% of data center operational costs—particularly cooling expenses—Guizhou’s mild climate is a major asset. With an annual average temperature of just 12°C, natural cooling is highly efficient, enabling significant energy savings and emission reductions.
Second, Guizhou is rich in power resources. It boasts abundant hydropower due to its numerous rivers, ample rainfall, and significant elevation drops across the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Additionally, Guizhou is known as the “Coal Sea of South China” and serves as the largest coal production base south of the Yangtze River, providing reliable thermal power capacity.
Third—and perhaps most importantly—Guizhou’s success stems from proactive government policies and innovative institutional mechanisms. The provincial government effectively implemented a big data development strategy, leveraged its “first-mover” advantage, and cultivated an exceptional ecosystem for growth. Guizhou established China’s first provincial-level Big Data Development Administration (at full departmental rank) and was designated as the National Big Data (Guizhou) Comprehensive Pilot Zone. In September 2013, the Zhongguancun Guiyang Science & Technology Park was inaugurated, marking the official launch of Guizhou’s big data journey. Since 2015, the province has successfully hosted the Big Data Expo (“Data Expo”) for eight consecutive years—an event that has become a powerful platform for attracting investment, gathering talent, and fostering domestic and international collaboration in the big data sector.
Now, with the national rollout of the “East Data, West Computing” mega-project—a strategic initiative to optimize computing resource allocation across China—Guizhou, drawing on its years of big data expertise, has been designated as one of the country’s core national computing hub nodes. Riding this wave of national strategy, Guizhou’s future holds even greater promise.
