The Chinese State Council approved on Wednesday a plan to build computing and data hubs that use blockchain technology to secure data in four regions including the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Fast facts

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  • The four hubs are set to join four more approved regions to make up a nationwide computing and data network to serve the expected growth of network demands from the emergence of 5G and artificial intelligence, a May plan revealed last year
  • Blockchain is listed as one of the technologies to be used to secure data flow in these computing hubs that will manage data storage and transmission, and cloud computing. 
  • China is leaning on “new infrastructure” technologies such as data centers, 5G and electric vehicles after Vice-Premier Liu He called for “moderately excessive development of infrastructure” last November, amid concerns of economic slowdown.
  • Along with the GBA, China approved on Wednesday the construction of data hubs at the Chengdu-Chongqing region, the Yangtze River Delta region (Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang), and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, covering the eastern coastline to the southwestern hinterland. 

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