China builds hundreds of data centres in Inner Mongolia to power AI expansion
In the grasslands of Inner Mongolia’s Ulanqab region, rows of rectangular data‑centre blocks are rising alongside potato fields. Hundreds of facilities are being built for Chinese tech giants such as Huawei, ByteDance and DeepSeek, part of a nationwide programme to supply the computing power needed for the country’s AI ambitions. Beijing says the centres will help embed artificial intelligence…
Key points
- Hundreds of data centres are under construction in Inner Mongolia and other provinces for Huawei, ByteDance and DeepSeek.
- China targets AI integration across 90% of industries and society by 2030.
- About five million science and tech graduates are produced annually, versus roughly half a million in the US.
The buildout is paired with a talent drive that aims to keep the roughly five million science and technology graduates China produces each year, compared with about half a million in the United States. Jack Zhang, a University of Science and Technology of China alumnus recruited after studying at Yale and Cambridge, says returning scholars see more opportunity at home as U.S. immigration restrictions tighten. Yet local residents voice concerns about water use, coal‑linked grid power and displacement, with some seeing little personal benefit from the high‑tech boom.
A new skyline of data centres is rising from the rolling plains of rural China
BBC Technology · 22 September 2026
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