In an announcement on WeChat, Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings says the company is pouring $70 billion over the next five years into critical digital infrastructure to position Beijing as the world leader in several emerging technologies: cloud computing, artificial intelligence, blockchain technology and the Internet of Things.
Tencent is the developer of WeChat, China’s biggest social media, messaging and payment app with over a billion users. The company’s allocation will also target advances in supercomputers, data centers and 5G mobile networks.
The digital infrastructure program aims to deploy a new network of large-scale data centers across China, with a million servers deployed at each site, reports South China Morning Post.
Tencent is a key player in China’s recovery plan following the disruption and widespread economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
According to China’s Government Work Report, released at its 2020 Two Sessions congressional meeting on May 22nd, the country is planning to build “new infrastructure” that will “inject digital vitality into industrial development and continually unleash economic growth potential”, reports China Banking News.
At the congressional meeting, Tencent CEO Pony Ma reportedly submitted several bills in connection with the comprehensive tech developments.
According to The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, developments in the digital economy, 5G networks and artificial intelligence will drive several trillion yuan in economic output over the next five years.
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