Hebei tops cloud technology adoption among Chinese businesses

The Department of Industry and Information Technology of Hebei Province has recently announced that over 90,000 local enterprises have adopted cloud technology. This ranks Hebei top nationwide for two consecutive years, with 21.2% of the region's industrial equipment now utilising cloud technologies. Cloud technology—a term encompassing cutting-edge developments like cloud computing and big data—increases efficiency for businesses.

As part of its ongoing push towards digital, networked, and intelligent transformation, Hebei has continued to promote the take-up of cloud technology by businesses. This has involved initiatives to encourage industrial internet innovation and development, support quality enterprises in digital transformation, and integrate new-generation IT with the manufacturing industry, among other efforts.

Illustrative examples of effective cloud technology application can be seen in Chengde, Zhangjiakou, and Xinji city. Particularly notable is Jianlong Special Steel Co. in Chengde, which introduced an intelligent manufacturing system for sintering machines, resulting in a surge of sintered ore alkalinity stability to over 90%—an increase of 8.31%. Meanwhile, Tianyuan Special Glass in Zhangjiakou has successfully realised digital management of its entire intelligent process from raw materials to the selling of finished products. A number of fur and leather companies in Xinji city have improved efficiency by embracing digital management in processes such as dyeing.

A total of 329 industrial internet platforms have been successfully established, connecting 10.27 million industrial devices and servicing 137,000 businesses. Additionally, the province has seen an impressive build-out of its 5G infrastructure, with the number of 5G base stations now surpassing 160,000. This is seen as a preliminary formation of a 5G network system that meets the needs of industry.

Hebei's agenda going forward aims to concentrate on large-scale industrial enterprises within traditional sectors such as steel, equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and building materials. The province intends to foster a range of provincial-level industrial internet projects that ally with intelligent production, digital management, and platform-based design. Small and medium enterprises will also be pushed to quicken their application of new-generation information technology, ensuring digital support for their specialised and innovative development. It is projected that by 2025, 100,000 regional enterprises will have adopted cloud technologies.

The increased access to cloud technology services will facilitate Hebei's progression towards a comprehensive greener transformation, expediting processes for businesses across a wide array of industries. In the words of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Hebei Province, more corporations will be given the chance to "thrive in the clouds."