By the first half of 2026, intelligent computing accounted for 80.8% of capacity across China’s eight East Data, West Computing hubs. Four years earlier, the figure was below 20%. This has not been a gradual shift so much as a genuine migration of compute westward — from “store data in the west” to “train models in the west,” and now to “build AI application ecosystems in the west.”
But understanding this migration takes more than simply dividing it into three stages. Two other changes matter just as much: how the geographic “board” has changed, and how policy has tightened or opened the “valves.”
A Bigger Board: From “8+10” to “8+10+3”
Many people still think East Data, West Computing is simply eight national hubs plus ten clusters — a map drawn once and then fixed in place. It isn’t. In 2026, the National Development and Reform Commission reframed the spatial layout as “8+10+3.” The final “+3” refers to three computing-power coordination development regions: Inner Mongolia, Ningxia and Gansu. The term “computing-power coordination” appeared in the Government Work Report for the first time in March this year. What does that mean? It means the geography is no longer simply a division of labor between eastern data demand and western computing supply. It is becoming a two-variable equation of watts and bits: where computing centers are built, power grids must follow; where renewable-energy bases are planned, computing clusters must be ready to connect.
Hard data supports the shift. By the end of 2025, 145 backbone fiber routes had been built among the eight hubs, bringing inter-hub latency below 20 milliseconds — effectively making resources thousands of kilometers away accessible in near real time. By March 2026, China’s intelligent computing capacity had reached 1.882 million P, 2.5 times the level a year earlier. The board keeps changing, and the pace is accelerating.
■ Signal One (2022–2024): “Store Data in the West” — The First Lesson
When East Data, West Computing first launched, many assumed it was simply about moving eastern China’s excess data into western regions with cheaper land. This stage quickly taught the industry that cheap land and electricity were not enough. You also need networks, operating teams and an ecosystem of suppliers and customers. Zhongwei in Ningxia, Horinger in Inner Mongolia and Qingyang in Gansu went from dots on a map to hotspots on the industrial map.
■ Signal Two (2024–2025): “Train Models in the West” — Computing Vouchers Changed the Rules
Beginning in 2024, more than 20 provinces and municipalities introduced computing vouchers. Beijing issued RMB 500 million a year, while some western provinces offered up to RMB 10 million per company — but with a condition: training workloads had to be deployed locally. That link changed the market. AI companies seeking subsidies began actively moving large-model training workloads into western data centers. “East Data, West Computing” became “East Data, West Training.” The west’s renewable-energy advantage became even more important: wind and solar electricity in Inner Mongolia can cost as little as RMB 0.20/kWh, Guizhou has abundant hydropower, and Ningxia has strong solar resources. The meaning of the “compute factory” was being rewritten.
In April 2025, the National Development and Reform Commission led the release of window-guidance rules for computing infrastructure projects. The document drew a clear line: large and larger data centers could only be located within the national East Data, West Computing hub nodes, and no new facilities of that scale could be built outside them. All new computing projects would also be subject to national window-guidance review.
That changed the underlying rules of the game. For several years, local governments had rushed to plan intelligent computing centers — even some county-level areas proposed “thousand-P” clusters. The new guidance applied the brakes to disorderly expansion, turning computing construction from a local investment-promotion project into an infrastructure category subject to national-level access controls. The other side of the policy is a hard renewable-energy requirement. New projects must specify a green-power pathway, with source-grid-load-storage integration and direct green-power supply encouraged. Horinger, Inner Mongolia, requires at least 80% green electricity for new data centers. These are no longer optional extras. Watts are not just one qualification among many — they have become the entry ticket itself.
■ Signal Three (2026 and Beyond): “Build the Application Ecosystem in the West”
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology’s “1+M+N” computing interconnection system is now being rolled out, while computing-power-bank pilots are expanding. The next step is no longer simply to “pay for compute,” but to use compute the way we use electricity — draw it when needed, and potentially deposit spare capacity into a “computing power bank” for a return. Western data centers are therefore evolving from training facilities into the foundation of a new kind of computing utility.
Three Lessons From the Three Signals
- First solve the question of whether capacity exists, then improve its quality — window guidance replaces after-the-fact supervision with review before construction begins.
- Computing vouchers are a market-based incentive; window guidance is an access-control valve. One pushes, the other pulls — together they form a more complete policy toolkit.
- Green electricity is not optional. Without a viable green-power pathway, a project may not get through the window-guidance process at all. The “+3” in “8+10+3” sends the same message: the computing network and the power grid are increasingly becoming one coordinated system.
At DITExpo 2026, the Digital Infrastructure Technology Expo to be held in Beijing on December 10–11, government officials and company representatives from the eight national hubs and ten major clusters are expected to join discussions on East Data, West Computing. The Level 2 AIDC Hall will also feature a dedicated showcase area. If you want to understand how the different hubs and clusters are developing, the exhibition offers a chance to meet and exchange views in person.
Which hub’s government and enterprise representatives would you most like to meet? Cast your vote:
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Hub
- Zhangcheng Cluster (Zhangjiakou–Chengde)
- Wulang Cluster (Wuqing, Tianjin–Langfang, Hebei)
Yangtze River Delta Hub
- Yangtze River Delta Ecological and Green Integrated Development Demonstration Zone Cluster (Qingpu, Shanghai–Wujiang, Suzhou–Jiashan, Jiaxing)
- Wuhu Cluster
Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Hub
- Shaoguan Cluster
- Zhaoqing Cluster
Guizhou Hub
- Gui’an Cluster
Chengdu-Chongqing Hub
- Tianfu Cluster
- Chongqing Cluster (Science City / Shuitu)
Inner Mongolia Hub
- Horinger Cluster
- Ulanqab Cluster
Gansu Hub
- Qingyang Cluster
Ningxia Hub
- Zhongwei Cluster
Or leave a comment and tell us which other clusters you think deserve greater development — and why.
