Kathmandu— North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region is significantly increasing investment in green computing infrastructure and exploring new avenues to export artificial intelligence services, as evidenced by the signing of multiple large-scale projects on Saturday in Hohhot. A total of 12 projects, with a combined planned investment of 186.46 billion yuan (approximately $27.49 billion USD), were agreed upon at the 2026 Green Computing Power (Artificial Intelligence) Conference. These initiatives aim to leverage Inner Mongolia’s renewable energy resources and growing computing capacity to connect domestic AI capabilities with international markets, shifting from hardware exports to service provision.

Massive Investment in New Projects

The signed projects involve prominent companies such as Volcano Engine (ByteDance's cloud platform), Cambricon Technologies, and China Telecom. These investments will focus on the development of green intelligent computing centers, token factories, and the manufacturing of essential computing-power and electricity equipment. The scale of investment underscores Inner Mongolia’s ambition to become a leading hub for sustainable AI infrastructure.

Platform Launched to Facilitate Global AI Services

Construction has begun on a comprehensive service platform within the Hohhot Area of the China (Inner Mongolia) Pilot Free Trade Zone, designed to facilitate the globalization of Chinese digital services. This platform will connect overseas developers with China’s AI models and green computing resources, while simultaneously assisting domestic AI companies in expanding their international reach. Services offered through the platform include compliance assessment, computing-power scheduling, token measurement, cross-border settlement, and developer support.

Rapid Growth of Computing Capacity

Inner Mongolia is capitalizing on its abundant wind and solar energy to establish a large-scale green computing base. The Horinger New Area in Hohhot currently hosts 62 computing centers with a total capacity of 150,000 PFlops (petaflops), including 143,000 PFlops dedicated to intelligent computing. Neighboring Ulanqab boasts an operational computing capacity of 172,000 PFlops, with over 95 percent allocated to intelligent computing tasks. One petaflop equals one quadrillion calculations per second.

Surging Demand Drives Expansion

The expansion of Inner Mongolia’s green computing infrastructure is occurring alongside a dramatic increase in demand for AI computing within China. Official data indicates that daily token calls surged from approximately 100 billion in early 2024 to an impressive 140 trillion by March 2026, highlighting the rapid growth of the domestic AI market.

The launch of this new platform represents a strategic shift towards exporting AI capabilities as digital services, positioning Inner Mongolia to play a key role in linking China’s green computing resources with the global AI marketplace.

(With inputs from Xinhua)

Originally published on abcnews.com.np.