The Chinese government has led the implementation of AI infrastructure and the formulation of policies to support domestic enterprises. These policies include promoting the adoption of Chinese AI chips in new datacenters and offering subsidies, such as "training and computing power vouchers" (hereafter referred to as computing power vouchers), to encourage R&D investments in AI technology and services.
Additionally, through public computing platforms, China is integrating AI computing power, application services, and software and hardware providers. Beyond ensuring operational stability for key enterprises, the government is fostering collaboration among industry players and driving the development of AI technology and services to enhance the resilience of China's sovereign AI ecosystem and achieve its industrial development goals.
In 2025, OpenAI announced the "Stargate Project," with plans for a US$500 billion investment in new AI infrastructure across all US states. Similarly, China launched the "Eastern Data, Western Computing Project" in 2022, a government-led initiative aimed at building extensive datacenters nationwide to support the digital economy's growth. Under this project, eight key national hub nodes and ten major data center clusters have been established.
Chart 3: Cumulative active server racks in China, 2017–September 2024 (m units)
Chart 4: Schematic of entities and stakeholder types investing in China's AI data centers
Chart 6: China's computing power push fuels domestic AI growth
Chart 7: Benefits of a computing power public platform and China's local AI ecosystem framework
Chart 9: China's Local computing power voucher policy: Timeline and regions
