China is set to allow foreign companies to independently run data centres and offer various telecommunications services in the country, with US electric car maker Tesla and British bank HSBC among the first set of applicants.
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The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) initiated a pilot programme in Beijing, Shanghai, Hainan and Shenzhen on Wednesday, allowing foreign companies to wholly own and operate internet data centres, conduct online data and transaction processing, and offer other telecoms services, according to state news agency Xinhua.
The pilot scheme enables foreign companies to “engage deeply in the Chinese market for services including cloud computing and computing power”, according to the Xinhua report on Wednesday.
Tesla is among the first batch of foreign firms to apply for the pilot, state media China Daily reported, citing Zhang Hongtao, an official of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization.
The first group also includes Singapore-headquartered commodity firm Trafigura, a fintech subsidiary of HSBC, Siemens’ healthcare unit and US game engine developer Unity.
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