New policies, boost in infrastructure and Wi-Fi project among iniatives

Guiyang has taken a number of measures to develop its big data industry in recent years, local officials said.

The city's new efforts aim to grasp growth opportunities in the industry that has developed rapidly both at home and abroad and is showing great future potential.

According to a report by the consultancy firm China Industry Research, the global big data industry will generate a revenue of $23.8 billion this year, growing 31.7 percent from a year ago. Estimated annual growth in China in the coming years will be more than 60 percent, with total revenue reaching 46.29 billion yuan ($7.13 billion) in 2019.

The big data industry has been designated as one of the three strategic sectors in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) in Southwest China's Guizhou province.

The provincial capital of Guiyang hopes to pilot the development by releasing preferential policies and enhancing the construction of infrastructure facilities.

The city has issued policy documents and a strategy to boost the industry. It has also conducted research and issued a report on big data development that examines and forecasts trends in the industry, its influence on the economy and new services.

Guiyang has also boosted infrastructure construction and spent 3.14 billion yuan ($484 million) on information infrastructure in 2015.

It is also working to provide free citywide Wi-Fi. The project's first phase was completed in May 2015 to allow free Wi-Fi on the city's major roads and main public areas, covering an area of 12.8 square kilometers. It is slated to be finished by the end of 2017.

Guiyang aims to host several international and national data centers. Renowned international companies like Hewlett-Packard have launched their data centers in the city.

The city is also giving strong support to industries related to big data. It boosted rural and cross-border e-commerce and has developed new business, such as e-commerce big data analysis.

E-commerce giant JD.com finished its first-phase construction of an e-commerce industrial park, which is also a modern logistics center, in Guiyang last year. The first-phase project became operational on Dec 8.

Total investment in the park is about 1 billion yuan and the second-phase construction is slated for completion this year. More than 1,300 big data and related companies set up shop in the city last year, taking the current total in the city to more than 5,000.

The city has held large events to promote the big data sector. The International Big Data Expo 2015 and Global Big Data Era Guiyang Summit attracted many foreign and domestic companies and helped Guiyang become more influential in the nation's big data sector, local officials said.

The city jointly held the 2015 China E-commerce Innovation and Development Summit with China Network Television.

Guiyang has organized big data-related promotional activities in regions including Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and signed agreements for 162 projects with investment worth more than 170 billion yuan.

In July, the Ministry of Science and Technology approved Guiyang's plan to build an experimental area for big data technological innovation.

The area will help create a good environment for innovation and explore sustainable development strategies for underdeveloped cities in western China, local officials said.

They said Guiyang hopes to promote mass entrepreneurship and innovation related to big data in the city. It has worked to attract more investors and businesses from the big data industrial chain and to build itself into an experimental area for innovation and startups.

The city government said Guiyang will attract more than 100 big data projects this year and foster one or two leading big data companies which are nationally influential.

songmengxing@chinadaily.com.cn