Powering AI: China's Frontier "Calculates" a New Future

China News Service Beijing, March 8 (Reporter Xu Xueying, Ma Shuaisha) — “As AI technology iterates and updates, China’s computing power demand continues to grow,” said Zhang Zhentao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and researcher at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He stated in an interview with China News Service that in the future, China’s border computing power output is expected to further expand, and the western regions will be more deeply integrated into the national new development pattern.

This year’s government work report proposed implementing large-scale intelligent computing clusters, computing and electricity collaboration, and other new infrastructure projects, strengthening nationwide integrated computing power monitoring and scheduling. “Computing and electricity collaboration” was included in the government work report for the first time.

“At the end of computing power is energy,” Zhang Zhentao mentioned, noting that the computing industry is a high-energy-consuming industry. In the future, China’s demand for electricity for computing power development will continue to grow exponentially.

Zhang Zhentao said that the collaboration between eastern and western regions in computing and electricity is a win-win for China’s new energy utilization and artificial intelligence development. Eastern China has concentrated computing power demand but high electricity costs. Regions like Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, and Guizhou are rich in green energy resources, which can ensure the operation of computing centers. Additionally, the dry and cool climate in the west acts as a natural “cooler,” effectively reducing energy consumption in computing centers.

In the past, limited local consumption capacity and lagging outbound transmission channels led some western areas to face the dilemma of “abandoning wind and solar.” “The construction of computing centers has improved the overall utilization rate of local wind and solar power,” said Zhang Zhentao.

Under the promotion of the “East Data West Computing” project, major computing centers have been established in the western regions. Since the 14th Five-Year Plan, China’s integrated computing network has connected the east, west, south, and north, making it the second-largest in the world. The annual growth rate of computing power has reached 30%, with over 70% of new computing capacity coming from the west.

In places like Hami, Xinjiang, and Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, traditional “coal-rich” areas have established new energy equipment manufacturing bases, achieving a leap from coal and electricity transmission to computing power transmission.

“This transformation plays a significant role in optimizing resource allocation across regions and balancing technological development between the east and west,” Zhang Zhentao believes. He sees the collaboration between computing and electricity as a beneficial practice for border areas exploring the Chinese-style modernization path.

Converting “watts” into “bits” is quietly changing the lives of border residents. Zhu Guanglan, a representative of the National People’s Congress and a worker at the Fifth Company of the 13th Division of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, expressed deep feelings. She said in an interview that the computing parks not only create new jobs in information system operation and data processing but also, as e-commerce takes root and cross-border data services expand, more young people are engaged in live streaming sales and cross-border e-commerce, truly achieving employment right at their doorstep.