Hohhot, the capital city of North China’s Inner Mongolia autonomous region, is leading the way in cloud computing in the autonomous region with its advantageous weather conditions, easy access and stable electricity supply. 

The annual average temperature in Hohhot is 8 C, and natural means can be used for the cooling of the devices in data centers six months of the year. 

Hohhot is a hub city of the Belt and Road Initiative, connecting China with Russia and Mongolia, and it is only an-hour’s-flight away from Beijing. Being the capital city of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot boasts 70 percent of the region’s science and education resources and many of the most highly skilled workers of the autonomous region. This further facilitates the development of its cloud computing and big data industries. 

Putting the two industries on the priority list, Hohhot set up special teams consisting of top officials in the government and from the municipal Party committee, and a local big data industry bureau to assist with the development of cloud computing and the big data industry. The industries will enjoy preferential policies including lower electricity prices. 

Two cloud computing industrial parks have already been set up in Hohhot. Shengle Cloud Computing industrial park has so far attracted a total of 28 projects worth more than 80 billion yuan ($11.5 billion). 

With the efforts put into the industries, Hohhot is now speeding up the construction of big data platforms in areas including the dairy industry, agriculture and husbandry, product processing, industry and logistics.