As published by media on October 29, 2020, the Xinhua report said China is setting up a cloud computing centre in a high-tech zone in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). Tibet has a long and disputed boundary with India, which will become China’s gateway to collect data from South Asian countries, such as Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh by 2021, and will meet the data storage needs of client countries. This ambitious but the fairly low-key project will serve the South-Asian countries by providing remote services like distance learning, autonomous driving, and data back-up. It will influence and impact on South Asian countries where China is already investing billions in physical infrastructure. Once in operation, a privately-owned Chinese company, Ningsuan Technologies, will soon have access to huge amounts of digital data from across densely populated South Asian countries.
The cloud computing centre’s sprawling campus, covers an area of more than 6,45,000 metres, a costs of less than US$ 2 billion, a part of the Chinese information technology ministry’s plan to make Lhasa the communication and information hub for South Asia. Located at nearly 10,000 feet, the centre is the highest cloud computing centre in the world.
In phase one, the centre will have 10,000 machine cabinets with an annual revenue of US$ 223.5 million, and will meet the data storage needs of key clients in the country as well as in South Asia. Thus, with the construction of a regional bureau for stepping up international communications services, Tibet will become a big-data industrial base.
The firm, Ningsuan Technologies with Chinese government backing seeks cooperation with south Asian countries under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), seeking to connect China with the rest of Asia and beyond through infrastructure and digital projects. Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh are part of BRI, whereas India refused to join it due to sovereignty issues.
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Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a Chinese ambitious programme to connect Asia with Africa and Europe via land and maritime networks along six corridors with a view to improving regional integration, increasing trade and stimulating economic growth. Chinese President Xi Jinping coined this term in 2003, inspired from the concept of the Silk Road, established during the Han Dynasty 2,000 years ago. The BRI has also been referred to in the past as ‘One Belt One Road’. The BRI comprises a trans-continental passage that links China with South-East Asia, South Asia, Central Asia, Russia, and Europe by land and a sea route connecting China’s coastal regions with South-East and South Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East, and Eastern Africa, to Europe.
BRI defines five major priorities—policy coordination; infrastructure connectivity; unimpeded trade; financial integration; and connecting people. It is expected to involve more than US$ 1 trillion in investments, largely in infrastructure development for ports, roads, railways, airports as well as power plants and telecommunications networks. Its geographical scope is constantly expanding. As of March 2020, 138 countries have joined the BRI by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China—38 (countries in Sub-Saharan Africa); 34 (Europe & Central Asia); 25 (East Asia & Pacific); 17 (Middle East & North Africa); 18 (Latin America & Caribbean); and 6 (South-East Asia).