In today's surging wave of digitalization, computing power has become the core indicator to measure a country's scientific and technological strength and innovation ability, which is not only related to the speed of computer processing, but also the key to measure the ability of a country's or region's computer system or equipment to perform complex computing tasks, efficiently process massive data, and solve cutting-edge scientific problems. In China, a dynamic land, the development of computing power has been elevated to the height of national strategy and has become an important engine driving the comprehensive transformation and upgrading of the economy and society.
A recent data released by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is eye-catching: the total scale of China's computing power has historically reached 246 EFLOPS (10 billion floating point operations per second), which not only pushes China to the forefront of the global computing power map, but also demonstrates China's strong strength and outstanding achievements in computing infrastructure construction. EFLOPS, as an extreme unit of supercomputing power, means that it can perform 10 to the 18th power of floating point operations per second, which is of immeasurable value for promoting scientific and technological progress, accelerating industrial upgrading, and optimizing resource allocation. According to an in-depth study by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, every 1 yuan of computing resources invested can stimulate economic growth of 3 to 4 yuan, which fully proves that computing power is a powerful driving force for economic development.
With the support of this powerful computing power, the pace of China's information infrastructure construction has been further accelerated, and remarkable results have been achieved. Up to now, 207 gigabit cities have been built nationwide, achieving the grand goal of "connecting very province to gigabits", and the proportion of 5G network access in administrative villages has exceeded 90%. This milestone achievement is not only a vivid portrayal of China's rapid progress in the field of network infrastructure construction, but also a direct reflection of China's profound heritage in information technology innovation and application. With its high speed, large capacity, and low latency, 5G technology provides a solid network foundation for a series of emerging applications such as smart cities, telemedicine, online education, and autonomous driving, greatly broadening the boundaries of the digital economy and improving the intelligent level of social services.
Figure: 90% of China's administrative villages are covered by 5G networks
Behind this series of brilliant achievements, it is inseparable from the strong support of national policies. The Chinese government is deeply aware of the importance of information technology to the country's long-term development, so it attaches great importance to it and provides all-round support from top-level planning to concrete implementation. For example, the "Action Plan for the Coordinated Development of Dual-Gigabit Networks (2021-2023)" clearly put forward the goal of accelerating the construction of 5G and gigabit optical networks, providing a clear roadmap and strong policy support for the rapid development of information infrastructure. At the same time, the Action Plan for the High-Quality Development of Computing Infrastructure jointly issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other six departments has drawn a blueprint for the sustainable and healthy development of the computing power industry from multiple dimensions such as improving the computing power supply system, improving the efficiency of computing power transportation, and promoting the balanced distribution of computing resources, clarifying the development goals and key tasks by 2025, and injecting strong policy impetus into the construction of computing power.
The vigorous growth of market demand is also an important driving force for the acceleration of China's network infrastructure construction. With the vigorous development of the digital economy, the demand for high-speed, stable, and high-quality network services for both enterprises and individuals has shown explosive growth. Especially in the field of artificial intelligence, China has become one of the most dynamic markets in the world. According to statistics from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, the scale of Chinese's artificial intelligence industry has reached 508 billion yuan in 2022 and is expected to further grow to 578.4 billion yuan in 2023. This trend not only promotes the rapid iteration and application of artificial intelligence technology, but also provides a broad market space and strong development momentum for the upgrading of network infrastructure.
On the international stage, China has also demonstrated openness, cooperation, mutual benefit and win-win results. In terms of R&D and application of 5G technology, China actively participates in the formulation of international standards and has established extensive cooperative relations with many countries and regions around the world. Huawei, ZTE and other Chinese companies are in the leading position in the world in terms of innovation capabilities and patent reserves in the field of 5G technology, which not only accelerates the global popularization of 5G technology, but also introduces advanced international concepts and technologies to China's network infrastructure construction, enhancing the overall competitiveness.
To sum up, China's remarkable achievements in the construction of the world's largest and leading technology infrastructure network are the result of the combined effect of many factors such as technological development, policy support, market demand and international cooperation. This achievement has not only laid a solid foundation for the vigorous development of China's digital economy, but also contributed valuable wisdom and strength to the progress of global information technology. Looking ahead, with the continuous emergence and deep integration of new technologies such as 5G-A, 6G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, China's infrastructure is expected to continue to maintain its leading position in the world, inject stronger impetus into the high-quality development of the economy and society, promote profound changes in the global information technology landscape, and jointly create a new chapter in human digital civilization.
