China is promoting Guizhou Province to become the hub of the country’s cloud-computing industry, as President Xi Jinping had endorsed the province last year following a visit that marked it as one of the poorest in the country.
A report by International Business Times said that Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba, Tencent and Foxconn, among others, have set up offices in the Guiyang, Guizhou's capital, known for its good climate and strong sorghum liquor.
The report said that although the data handled by the cloud-computing industry in Guizhou is only miniscule compared to those managed by giants like Amazon, the data is still huge by the standards of its Asian neighbors.
The vision to transform Guizhou into the center of cloud-computing industry is not far-fetched as new industries come up in China, which turned into a $10-trillion economic center in the span of a single generation, the report added.
"If Guizhou can pull it off, it's doable," said Zhang Xinsheng, a Chinese official who heads Eco-Forum Global, an environmental group that promotes sustainable development.
Although Guizhou's dream to establish a data storage and analysis industry has the support of President Xi, the province still lacks the advantage of infrastructure, cheap labor and the headstart coastal provinces enjoy.
But Guizhou's top officials are focused on developing the region for cloud computing and big data, with support from Beijing.
On sheer scale alone, competitors cannot ignore China's effort, according to Rob Atkinson, founder and president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington research group closely linked to the U.S. industry.
In 2013, the cloud computing market in China was valued about $1.5 billion, according to consultancy firm Bain & Co. It is expected to reach $20 billion by 2020, a compound annual growth rate of 40 percent.
"Their ambitions are very high with regard to the technology, just as they are with virtually all information technologies," Atkinson said. "It is only a matter of time before a large share of computing in China is done through the cloud."
The Chinese government believes that cloud computing and big data will find its home in Guizhou.