China is Now Inviting Entrepreneurs to its Newest Investment Hub Guizhou India's biggest competitor wants the country's entrepreneurs to explore big data opportunities in the region
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
While most enterprises seeking to invest in China focus on Beijing or Shanghai, the country is offering entrepreneurs the chance to discover its latest investment hub, Guizhou.
Guizhou Province's Prime Focus on Data Centres
In February this year, The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) had signed a MoU to cooperate with the administration of Guizhou province on its Big Data initiative and, now, the Chinese province seeks to take that further. The lesser known and relatively less exposed south-western province of Guizhou hopes to be one of biggest investment hubs with prime focus on data centres.
On 27 June, NASSCOM concluded another successful round of productive bilateral talks with officials of Guizhou Province, headed by its Governor Sun Zhigang.
The Chinese delegation introduced the Guizhou National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Zone to the Indian IT ecosystem as Chinese companies are seeking collaboration with Indian firms in analyzing large blocks of data, and putting them to wider use.
"This campaign is of great significance for the communication and collaboration between the emerging ecosystems of IoT and Big data of both countries," said Gagan Sabarwal, Director, Global Trade Development, NASSCOM, at the event.
What's in it For Entrepreneurs?
The province, for long, has been largely known for its scenic views and lesser-explored tourist spots. However, post the setting up of a $14-billion, high-speed rail line that connects the province with the southern boomtown of Guangzhou, near Hong Kong in late 2014, investments in the region have accelerated.
The government in the region is inviting entrepreneurs having a business that deals with big data to explore the region. It already houses core data centers belonging to Huawei, Tencent, Foxconn, Alibaba and China Mobile and estimates show there will be 3 million servers in Guizhou by the end of 2025.
The new investment hub is not only a cheaper option for enterprises, compared to other data centre locations in Europe but promises to offer much cheaper operational costs when compared to other hubs in China itself. The provincial government is particularly offering the opportunity to data-based business as it foresees powering of cloud chain services, information networks, long-distance freight, public transport, cab aggregation and customization and e-medicine, among others taking centre stage in the next few years.
Apart from this Guizhou is also an important industrial base of the aviation, aerospace and electronics industry in China.
