Investment In Chinese Cloud Continues To Grow

With the Chinese government focused on enhancing the country’s capabilities in cloud computing, United States-based organizations including Intel have opted to invest in several promising cloud providers.

Intel’s venture capital arm this week announced plans to invest funds in Wuxi China Cloud Technology Service, a cloud infrastructure provider; Tianjin Zhongke BlueWhale Information Technology, a network storage provider; and Shanghai Yeapoo Information Technology, which provides such business tools as mobile-adapted website construction, online marketing tools, and customer data analysis solutions. The decision to devote resources to these organizations comes in the wake of increased demand for cloud services in China, where the chip maker’s server business continues to grow at double digit rates. Moreover, Chinese officials have stated their intent to move as much corporate and government data and functions as possible to the cloud in coming years. To optimize this progress, Intel also anticipates dedicating investment capital in Chinese companies that manufacture components for wearable devices.

BusinessWire recently reported that Chinese officials hope the cloud will allow them to garner significant advantages in the delivery of such services as education and health care. The government set aside $1 billion for cloud development, anticipating that the accessibility and scalability of cloud-based solutions will enable its employees to deliver improved services to a larger number of people. In addition, China designated Wuxi, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing as cloud computing cities, offering funding and infrastructure that will allow municipal governments to migrate many of their city services to the cloud.

The Chinese technology market offers investors numerous opportunities to realize strong financial returns. The nation’s large population, huge markets, and vast manufacturing operations benefit from utilization of cloud capabilities. Moreover, the cloud affords Chinese business and government agencies flexibility while limiting redundancy of effort and storage capacity. According to Gartner, the cloud industry in China will reach $163 billion over the next year.