Xinjiang cloud computing center starts operations

The cloud computing center of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region officially started operations on Tuesday, a key step for the region in building a regional information hub for Central and Western Asia.

The center, built by Dawning Information Industry Co., Ltd., a national high-tech enterprise, currently provides cloud computing services for electronic government platforms, urban management, language and culture, and new energy development.

Xinjiang named the cloud computing industry as a strategic and new industry in 2011. The region has invested nearly 30 billion yuan (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) in the industry with a number of projects launched.

"The Xinjiang cloud computing center has not only completed construction in hardware, but also made breakthroughs in practical use," said Su Guoping, an official with the Xinjiang Economic and Informatization Commission.

In the next ten years, Xinjiang aims to realize an annual output value of 32 billion yuan in the industry and become the largest data center in western China, said Su.

Cloud computing generally refers to services, including software and storage, accessed by users through the Internet.