China's data-center pipeline shifts to Inner Mongolia, BNEF finds

September 8, 2026 at 05:07 AM1 min

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More than half of China's data-center project pipeline is now in the north and northwest, including Inner Mongolia, according to BloombergNEF research published Tuesday. The region is expected to surpass Beijing and Shanghai as the country's top source of computing capacity by 2028. The shift is driven by lower power costs, cooler climates, and greater land availability.

Key Facts

BloombergNEF research published Tuesday found that more than half of China's data-center project pipeline is now in the north and northwest, including Inner Mongolia.
By 2028, the north and northwest region is expected to surpass Beijing and Shanghai as China's top source of computing capacity.
DeepSeek and Z. AI Co. are building data centers of a gigawatt or more in the area.
Ulanqab, a city of less than 2 million people in Inner Mongolia, lies about 350 km northwest of Beijing.

The Data-Center Shift

Beijing's 'Data in the East, Computing in the West' campaign, underway since 2022, is relocating computing power from crowded eastern megacities to western regions with abundant space and inexpensive green energy. BloombergNEF analysts wrote that north and northwestern China has emerged as 'the main growth pole for new development, despite having a much smaller operating fleet.' Lower-cost power, cooler climates, and greater land availability are attracting developers, while power-intensive, less latency-sensitive workloads migrate from established demand centers.

Ulanqab Construction Boom

At a cluttered intersection on the eastern edge of Ulanqab on a Friday lunchtime, workers streamed out of a cluster of data-center construction sites. A food vendor surnamed Yin, whose family runs a stall serving meals to workers, said 'Every day, there are hundreds of workers. It never stops.' The city of less than 2 million people lies about 350 km northwest of Beijing.