Guizhou plans to become data storage haven

Guizhou province is striving to build itself as a "Swiss Bank" for data storage in China with safe but cheap big data storage and trade services.

Wang Jiangping, deputy governor of Guizhou province, on Tuesday said at an investment fair in Shanghai that the province hopes to attract financial institutions and Internet finance companies in the Yangtze River Delta region to store their data or use it as a data backup center.

Guizhou's big data industry grew 62 percent last year. This year, in the first ten months, it's seen a 36 percent hike. Big companies such as Alibaba, Foxcoon, and China's three State-owned carriers have built their data centers in the Guian New Area.

Guizhou's Commission of Economy and Information Technology director Ma Ningyu said the southwest province's natural advantages make it an ideal location for data storage and backup.

"It's away from the earthquake belts. And it's a cool climate. The rich electricity resources have lowered down the cost of operating the servers," said Ma.

He added that the province is making regulations to ensure data privacy and protection. It is also exploring the finance industry with big data. Global Big Data Exchange, the country's first big data exchange market, was opened in Guizhou's capital city Guiyang in April.

"The demand mostly comes from financial institutions for social media data," said Ma.

Over 100 entrepreneurs from Shanghai's finance industry as well as representatives from six Indian IT companies attended the fair.