Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and other departments jointly issued a document, approving the construction of national computing hubs in eight regions including the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the Yangtze River Delta, Guizhou and Ningxia, and the planning of 10 national data center clusters including the Zhangjiakou cluster. At this point, the overall layout design of the national integrated big data center system has been completed, and the project of “channeling computing resources from the east to the west” has been officially launched in full swing. The eight national computing hubs, as the backbone connection to China’s computing network, will help to develop data-center clusters, and carry out collaborative construction between data centers, cloud computing and big data. As the strategic fulcrum of the project that channels computing resources from the east to the west, the hubs will promote the orderly transfer of computing resources to the west and resolve the imbalance between supply and demand of computing resources between the east and the west.

Professor Zhou Xianghong from the Department of Public Administration was interviewed in the talk show 632 Observation on Oriental Financial Pudong Channel, in which she focused on the project of “channeling computing resources from the east to the west”, and provided his opinions about “why do we channel computing resources from the east to the west”, “what industries will be driven to grab the digital economy market in the future”, and “how can Pudong seize the opportunities”. The following is a compilation of the interview video.

Reporter: What is the concept of “channeling computing resources from the east to the west”? Can you be more specific? Why should we “channel computing resources from the east to the west”?

Zhou Xianghong: In digital economy, information requires computing resources to transmit data. For the east at this point of economic development, it has a mass of data, and some scenarios that are supported by a large amount of data. Digital economy has a concept of “node”, and once a city is at that node, it will have a lot of opportunities to grow. The west are less developed. We’ve been thinking if we can move part of the industry chain to the west. In this process, there will be new infrastructure. Second, objectively speaking, there is a state of spatial disequilibrium. For example, the cost of computing resources and electricity in the east is relatively high, while the cost and demand of water and electricity in the west are relatively low; so their combination can achieve a balance to some extent.

Reporter: Shanghai is building itself into an international digital capital. The project of “channeling computing resources from the east to the west” will play a crucial role in such process. How will it work specifically?

Zhou Xianghong: Shanghai and even China are emphasizing transformation in digital economy, which includes the integration of digital economy and real economy. So we do need the support of ITC new infrastructure, which will benefit a large number of enterprises. First, as we may have seen, some companies’ shares rose by the daily limit on the stock market, many of which are based in Shanghai. Second, the common people will also benefit. Some transportation, exchange and transaction scenarios we just mentioned are closely related to people’s livelihood. Third, it will enhance the competitiveness of the city.

Reporter: “Channeling computing resources from the east to the west” is a systematic project, requiring the countrywide coordination. What important role should Shanghai play in the whole process of data development? What are the biggest advantages and what is the direction for future development?

Zhou Xianghong: In this regard, it is the national overall layout. In this process, Shanghai is certainly experienced in advancing information-based development. We need to figure out ways to communicate with the west about such experience and lessons to help it avoid detours. We should also emphasize the integration of multiple regulations in the process of infrastructure construction. In this process, we should lay stress on the top-level design of information-based development and the industry planning, including the planning of space and integration of multiple regulations, thus avoiding fragmented data islands and detours.