(ECNS) -- From green electricity in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the expanding data ecosystem of southwest China's Guizhou Province, regions of northern and western China are seeking to turn the fast-growing computing power industry into a new engine of economic transformation.
Once best known as suppliers of energy and raw materials, these regions are now positioning themselves as emerging centers of China's digital economy.
The trend was underscored recently when Ren Shulu, senior vice president and executive supervisor of Huawei, visited Hohhot, capital of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, for talks with senior local officials.
During a meeting in Hohhot, Wang Weizhong, Party chief of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said the region is seizing opportunities brought by China's "East Data, West Computing" initiative. He said Inner Mongolia is accelerating efforts to build itself into a national hub for green computing power, a data industry cluster, and a base for integrating green computing with AI applications.
Wang expressed hope that Huawei would speed up construction of cloud data center projects and expand cooperation in areas such as green computing power, AI and data trading.
Ren noted that Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is home to one of China's eight national computing power hubs and one of its 10 major data center clusters. He added that the region also has a distinct advantage in providing high-proportion, low-cost and stable supplies of green electricity for AI computing facilities.
According to regional authorities of Inner Mongolia's computing power industry generated 57.7 billion yuan ($8 billion) in revenue in 2025, up 26.2% year on year. Its total computing capacity reached 237,000 petaFLOPS, including 220,000 petaFLOPS of intelligent computing capacity, meaning its data centers can theoretically perform hundreds of quintillions of calculations per second, and accounts for more than 92% of the total and ranks first nationwide.
Looking ahead, Inner Mongolia aims to convert its abundant wind and solar resources into electricity, computing power and ultimately digital assets, creating greater value from its low-cost renewable energy resources.
Ren said Huawei will continue increasing investment in key areas such as Horinger and Ulanqab, participating in the development of the entire industrial chain spanning green electricity, computing power, AI models and industrial applications.
If green electricity is Inner Mongolia's key advantage, Guizhou's strength lies in its early start in digital economy development and deep foundation in data resources.
Guizhou Party Secretary Xu Lin and Governor Li Bingjun met with Ren in Guiyang recently. During the meeting, Xu and Li said they hoped for deeper strategic cooperation with Huawei in intelligent computing center construction, data factor market development, large-model applications and digital ecosystem building. Ren said Huawei would participate more broadly in the province's digital economy development.
Whether through Inner Mongolia's ambition to build a trillion-yuan digital industry cluster or Guizhou's efforts to empower industries through computing power, both regions are trying to secure a leading position in China's next wave of technological development.
The ability to turn natural resources into intelligent resources is becoming increasingly important in the development of new quality productive forces. As wind and solar power are increasingly translated into computing capacity and digital tokens, and as data and AI models become the new manufactured goods, the geography of economic competition is undergoing a profound transformation.
Against this backdrop, frequent visits by technology executives to China's northern and western provinces are more than routine business trips. They reflect an intensifying race to secure positions in the future map of computing power infrastructure and the artificial intelligence landscape.
(By Gong Weiwei)
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