China’s Computing Power Industry Shows Initial Green Transformation Success
China’s computing power industry is demonstrating early success in its green transformation across the entire value chain, according to a new report released at the 2026 Green Computing Power (AI) Conference in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia on August 22. The Green Computing Power Development Research Report (2026), presented by Ao Li, Vice President of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), highlights significant progress in energy efficiency, sustainable infrastructure, and reduced environmental impact in the rapidly expanding computing sector.
Key Findings on Equipment and Infrastructure
The report reveals that China’s computing equipment is accelerating its upgrade toward higher energy efficiency. As of the end of June 2026, the country’s intelligent computing power reached 2,185 EFLOPS (exaflops), according to China News Service, which previously reported the figure at a State Council Information Office press conference.
New technologies including liquid cooling, high-speed optical interconnect, and new storage architectures have become essential conditions for building high-density intelligent computing centers, supporting the coordinated development of scale, performance, and energy efficiency in the industry.
Infrastructure Scale and Green Data Centers
By the end of 2025, China had more than 13.73 million standard racks in operation and had built 42 10,000-card intelligent computing clusters. The eight national hub nodes now concentrate over 80 percent of the nation’s intelligent computing power. More than 160 data centers across the country have been rated as 4A or above green data centers, as China Daily reported.
Computing-Electricity Coordination Moves from Concept to Practice
A key highlight of the report is the transition of computing-electricity coordination from theory to practice. The concept, which centers on the principle that “computing power follows electricity, especially green electricity,” was incorporated into the 2026 Government Work Report. A batch of demonstration projects have been built, with innovative technologies and market mechanisms continuing to break through.
In 2025, China’s computing facility electricity consumption reached 170 billion kWh, up approximately 30 percent year-over-year. The Economic Observer noted that CAICT data shows data center electricity consumption grew from 82.4 billion kWh in 2019 to 166 billion kWh in 2024, with projections reaching 390-820 billion kWh by 2030.
Token Economy and New Growth Poles
The report also highlights the emergence of computing power networks, the token economy, and computing power going global as new growth poles. Daily token calls in China surged from approximately 100 billion in early 2024 to approximately 140 trillion by March 2026—a growth of over 1,000 times.
Hohhot: A Model Green Computing Hub
Hohhot, the host city of the conference, has emerged as a leading example of green computing power development. The city’s total computing power exceeded 125,000 P, with intelligent computing accounting for 96 percent, and its green computing power index ranked first nationally. Data center green electricity usage in Hohhot has exceeded 86 percent, with electricity costs among the lowest in the country, according to CNR.
In May 2026, China’s first green computing power full-stack AI platform—the Inner Mongolia Token Trading Platform—was launched in the Hohhot Free Trade Zone, as Sina Finance reported. The platform provides integrated services for computing power scheduling, model invocation, and token trading.
Conference Highlights and Industry Engagement
The conference, themed “Building the Path of Computing-Electricity Coordination, Discussing New Prospects for Token Economy, Creating the Future of AI,” featured the signing of 13 key projects for the Helinger cluster, the inauguration of the National Video Large Model Computing Power Base, and the launch of the Inner Mongolia FTZ Digital Services Export (Token Export) Comprehensive Service Platform, as Yicai reported.
Companies including ByteDance, CICC Data, GCL Energy, Cambricon, Shanghai Shibei High-Tech, and CATL are planning cooperation in green intelligent computing centers, token factories, and computing-electricity equipment manufacturing.
Outlook
As China’s AI industry continues to expand, the green transformation of its computing power infrastructure will be critical to sustaining growth while meeting environmental goals. The initial successes documented in this report suggest that the country is on track to build a more sustainable digital economy, though challenges remain in scaling these achievements nationwide. Industry observers will be watching whether the computing-electricity coordination model can be replicated across other regions and whether the token economy can continue its explosive growth trajectory.