Guizhou is one of the rural provinces where China has put much of the computing behind its AI boom, and most of it is in Gui'an New Area outside Guiyang. Gui'an hosts about 27 large data centers, including Huawei's largest, Tencent's Seven Stars center built into a mountain, Apple's iCloud center for Chinese users, and those of the three state phone carriers. By the end of July 2026 the province counted 50 data centers operating or under construction, and it is still building.
Residents AFP met in Gui'an in July 2026 were positive. "It used to be a barren mountain, but since the area has developed, transportation has become more convenient, trade has picked up, business opportunities have emerged," said shopkeeper Shu Peihua. Researchers are less sure. Data centers do not necessarily create a "huge spillover effect" on local jobs, Andrew Stokols of Singapore Management University told AFP, and "immediate benefits have been elusive." AFP noted that dissent in China is tightly controlled.
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Power use is climbing fast. Gui'an's electricity use rose 54% in the first quarter of 2025, and data center use more than sixfold, the local power bureau reported; a 500-kilovolt substation adding 4 gigawatts for Huawei, Tencent and others began construction in 2025. Guizhou sells itself on an average temperature of about 15°C and hydro, wind and solar power cheaper than on the coast.
Apple's Gui'an center began operating in May 2021. It is run with Guizhou-Cloud Big Data, a company co-founded by the provincial government, which has held Chinese users' iCloud data since February 2018. The province planned more than 7.5 billion yuan of projects in 2025, including a Huawei Cloud global computing center.
Projects not tied to an area
Sites whose records name no county. Everything else is on the pages listed above.
Guizhou5
| Project | Company | Status | Power | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Gui'anGui'an New Area | Apple (GCBD) | Not reported | ||
| China Mobile Gui'an Big Data HubGui'an New Area | China Mobile | Not reported | ||
| Huawei Cloud Gui'an Data Center (Guizhou)Gui'an New AreaExact site not confirmed | Huawei Cloud | Not reported | ||
| Huawei Global Yun Data Center | Huawei Cloud | Not reported | ||
| Tencent Gui'an Seven Stars (Guizhou mountain caves)Gui'an New AreaExact site not confirmed | Tencent Cloud | Not reported |
Where this comes from
The reporting above was written from these. Open one and check it yourself.
Every project above is drawn from public records, filings and local reporting. Each row links to what it is based on. Statuses change, so check the source date before you rely on one. Found something wrong? Write to [email protected] and it gets fixed.