People's Posts and Telecommunications News:

Recently, the MIIT issued a notice on launching a special action to empower the development of small and medium-sized enterprises with inclusive computing power. What is the current state of the computing power industry in China? What are the priority tasks moving forward?

Zhang Yunming:

Thank you for your questions. I'll take them. In recent years, computing infrastructure has provided key and fundamental support to AI development. The MIIT has thoroughly implemented the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, advancing the high-quality development of the computing power industry through a coordinated "node-chain-network-ecosystem" approach. Recently, the ministry has focused on key tasks such as providing SMEs with affordable computing power and promoting coordination between computing and power systems. The computing power industry has maintained strong growth momentum.

First, the supply of computing power has grown. We have promoted the orderly development of computing infrastructure and built a multi-level "hub-region-edge" computing architecture. By the end of March, China's intelligent computing power had reached 1,882 EFLOPS (FP16). Second, industrial innovation has accelerated. We have thoroughly implemented the computing power network innovation challenge to accelerate technological and product innovation. We have conducted policy research and developed standards for computing-electricity coordination, accelerating the integration of power source-grid-load-storage and adopting direct green power connection. Third, network transmission has improved. We have accelerated the construction of high-speed broadband networks. Over the past two years, more than 70 major computing power channels have been built around computing hubs, serving as dedicated expressways for computing power. We have launched an initiative to deliver millisecond-level computing access in metropolitan areas, improving the efficiency of computing power delivery. Fourth, industrial applications have delivered notable results. We have issued a policy document on supporting SME development through affordable computing power, outlining five actions and 16 measures to build an inclusive computing power service system and ensure SMEs can access, afford and effectively use it.

Going forward, we will continue to promote the systematic and high-quality development of the computing power industry. This will be achieved by improving quality at key nodes, strengthening the industrial chain through innovation, building an integrated computing network and enabling broad applications.

First, we will improve the quality of computing resources at key nodes. We will guide the demand-driven and orderly development of computing infrastructure, promote the coordinated deployment of green power and computing power, and advance full automated monitoring coverage. We will improve China's computing power platform, promote precise matching of supply and demand and improve the efficiency of computing power resource utilization.

Second, we will strengthen industrial chains through technological and product innovation. We will deepen the computing power network innovation challenge and promote the practical application of innovation outcomes. We will strengthen the computing power standards framework. Additionally, we will support forward-looking research on space computing technology and promote the orderly development of the space computing industry.

Third, we will build an integrated computing network for computing power transmission. We will advance the phased deployment of millisecond-level computing access networks nationwide, create efficient computing power transmission channels based on the "hub-region-edge" framework, and improve the user experience of computing power applications.

Fourth, we will comprehensively empower the industrial ecosystem. We will deepen the special initiative to support SME development through affordable computing power, explore innovative service models such as "computing power banks" and "computing power supermarkets," and lower the barriers and costs for SMEs to access computing power. Thank you.