An aerial photo of the Big Data Industrial Park of Ya’an, Sichuan Province (COURTESY)

What can occur within a mere second? A bee can flutter its wings 240 times; over 4,000 stars can appear in the vast expanse of the universe; and at Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park, 125,000 photos are shared on the Internet and zillions of floating-point operations are completed per second. 

Just five years ago, the city of Ya’an, situated at the intersection of Sichuan and Yunnan provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region, had no connection to big data. However, in the past five years, the big data industry in Ya’an has undergone a remarkable transformation. By harnessing its distinctive advantages, Ya’an has now entered the fast track of big data industry development. 

In June 2018, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Sichuan Provincial Committee adopted the Decision on the Promotion of High-Quality Development on All Fronts, setting Ya’an as a “demonstration city for green development.” Furthermore, Ya’an was listed as one of the eight big data industry clusters of Sichuan Province, ushering in the opportunities for big data development. 

In August 2018, Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park, covering an area of over 33 hectares, was established within Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone. Data centre buildings rose quickly from the ground. By June 2019, the industrial park was fully built and operational. In 2022, Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park was recognised as a national demonstration base for a new type of industrialisation. It holds the distinction of being China’s first “carbon-neutral” green data centre. This remarkable progress is a testament to the city’s unwavering dedication to digital economic transformation.  

Big data development 

In the Internet Zone of Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park, the flickering green lights on numerous servers indicate the continuous flow of vast amounts of data. 

Inside the monitoring and command centre of the park, Xiong Shenglong, general manager of China Telecom Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone Branch, diligently watches the screens, overseeing data operations. 

Five years ago, upon learning about Ya’an’s plans to develop the big data industry, China Telecom Ya’an Branch was among the first companies to make a move. Xiong told media, “We chose to establish ourselves in Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park because it possesses unique advantages in terms of location, resources, environment, and more.” 

Located in the southwestern region of the Sichuan Basin, Ya’an benefits from a pleasant climate with an average annual temperature of 15.6 degrees Celsius. Its mild summers and winters make it an ideal natural cooling environment, allowing for efficient heat dissipation from equipment and substantially reducing energy consumption for running the facilities such as air conditioning. 

Moreover, Ya’an has abundant energy supply. With a completed hydroelectric installed capacity of 12.67 million kw, constituting one-sixth of Sichuan Province’s total hydroelectric installed capacity, it boasts an annual surplus of electricity. This abundance translates into cost savings, as companies coming to Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park can enjoy the low power price of $0.05 per kwh, making it a “low-cost electricity zone” for big data centres in Sichuan Province. 

In addition, Ya’an is the demonstration city for broadband development and is known as one of the “gigabyte cities” in China. Notably, Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park is the first in Sichuan Province to directly connect to the national Internet backbone, with access to multiple operators’ networks. The park serves as a crucial node within the national computing hub, known as the Tianfu Cluster, and plays a vital role in the country’s initiative of channelling more computing resources from the eastern areas to the less-developed western regions. 

“The operational cost for companies in Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park accounts for only 60 percent of that in Chengdu and Chongqing,” said Zhang Bo, deputy general manager of Ya’an Digital Economy Operation Co. 

Ya’an is also home to institutions such as Sichuan Agricultural University, Ya’an Vocational and Technical College, and the soon-to-be-established Ya’an Big Data College, providing substantial talent support for the advancement of the big data industry. 

Since August 2018, over 9 billion yuan ($1.28 billion) has been invested in the construction of the park, and more than 150,000 square metres of infrastructure, including server rooms, has been built, according to Zhang. 

Currently, the industrial park has successfully secured agreements with 167 big data projects, attracting a total investment surpassing 57.9 billion yuan ($8.26 billion). Renowned big data companies, including China Telecom, China Mobile, China Unicom, Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, ByteDance, and Lenovo have all established their presence in the park, solidifying Ya’an’s position as a prominent hub for the big data industry. 

“Driven by Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park, the scale of the city’s digital economy reached 35 billion yuan ($4.99 billion) last year, representing a 13-percent year-on-year growth,” Zhang said. 

A worker monitors data operation at a command centre at Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park in Sichuan Province on 10 May

Services growth 

Based on the data storage services, Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone is actively expanding the scope and depth of digital economy development. 

Near the park lies the soon-to-be-established Ya’an Financial Information Service Centre. Guo Tao, chairman of Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone Municipal Construction Engineering Co., provided details about the project, which involves a total investment of 1.5 billion yuan ($214 million) and spans 75 mu (5 hectares) of land.  

“Upon completion, the project is anticipated to provide the financial industry with 3,000 high-standard cabinets, catering to diverse complex business needs,” said Guo. 

By leveraging data storage and computing power services, Ya’an Big Data Industrial Park is propelling the growth of various industries through the application of “big data+.” It is consistently expanding its reach into innovative applications, incubators, information services, and the nurturing of big data talents.  

Moreover, the industrial park is collaborating with Sichuan Agricultural University to construct an animal and plant gene data research platform, exploring local applications in agriculture, energy, e-commerce, and more. It has joined hands with Sichuan Energy Investment Group to build the Sichuan Intelligent Energy Grid Operation Centre, providing comprehensive energy-saving solutions for enterprises.  

“Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone is determined to establish itself as a prominent national-level digital economic centre. By 2023, it aims to surpass a scale of 40 billion yuan ($5.71 billion) in the big data and related industries, with a further target of more than 50 billion yuan ($7.14 billion) by 2025,” Cheng Lingqin, a staff of Ya’an Economic and Technological Development Zone, said.