On 8 October 2023 the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Education, the National Health Commission, the People’s Bank of China and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission issued the Computing Infrastructure High-Quality Development Action Plan (Gong Xin Bu Lian Tong Xin [2023] No. 180).
The plan defines computing infrastructure as new information infrastructure combining computing, transmission and storage capacity. It sets a 2025 target of more than 300 EFLOPS of computing capacity and a 35 per cent share for intelligent computing. For data centre, cloud and computing leasing businesses, the document is both an industrial target and a compliance checklist.
Supply, transmission and storage
The plan addresses six areas: computing supply, network transmission, storage capacity, application enablement, green development and security. Supply focuses on diverse computing resources, transmission on low latency and cross-regional scheduling, and storage on advanced capacity and data storage strength.
A project proposal can no longer consist only of the number of racks and servers. Network latency, scheduling capability, storage architecture and energy efficiency will all feature in project review and customer procurement.
Energy and green development
Data centres are a focus of energy consumption and carbon emissions. The plan emphasises green development, covering power usage effectiveness, renewable energy, waste heat recovery and green operations.
For new or expanded projects, energy consumption and energy assessment are preconditions. Companies should examine local energy quotas, PUE targets, the electricity mix, green power trading and carbon accounting. For customers leasing computing capacity, green indicators may also enter procurement standards.
Permits and the scope of business
Providing data centre, cloud, content delivery or computing leasing services may require value-added telecommunications business licences, IDC or ISP qualifications, as well as cybersecurity graded protection and data classification obligations.
Companies sometimes mistake technical capability for operating authority. A built and equipped facility does not mean that commercial services may be offered. The required licence or filing depends on the business model and should be assessed at project inception.
Security and supply chain
The plan treats security as a separate task, covering cybersecurity, data security, supply chain security and facility security.
For operators, obligations include graded protection assessment, log retention, access control, vulnerability management, contingency plans and incident reporting. For users, they include data classification, identification of important data, cross-border transfer assessment and supplier review.
Supply chain security also involves equipment origin, software licensing and open-source components. Once a computing facility becomes critical information infrastructure, review and protection obligations increase further.
Five clauses in computing leasing contracts
First, service scope and SLA: computing specifications, availability, latency, fault response and compensation.
Second, data and security responsibility: distinguish infrastructure security from customer data security, and provide for logs, audits and incident notification.
Third, qualifications and compliance assurances: the operator warrants valid licences, and the customer warrants lawful business.
Fourth, change and exit: price adjustment, resource migration, data deletion and handover.
Fifth, supply chain risk: substitution and allocation of responsibility where equipment or software is restricted.
For cybersecurity and graded protection, see cybersecurity compliance; for data classification and cross-border transfer, see data compliance; for operating licence assessment, see business licensing.
This note is based on the Computing Infrastructure High-Quality Development Action Plan issued by six departments on 8 October 2023. It is for reference only and does not constitute legal advice.