Published by ChinaMNC · Baoji

What Xi's Ulanqab Visit Signals for Foreign Founders: Green Power, Computing Capacity and the '15th Five-Year Plan'

A practical read for foreign founders on China's green-computing push: how Ulanqab's wind and solar resources, data-center cluster status and talent programs could shape site selection and operations, plus cautions against disorderly expansion and 'involution'.

Why a grassland city matters to foreign founders

On 16 October, Xi Jinping visited Ulanqab in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region — his fourth inspection of Inner Mongolia since the 18th Party Congress. For foreign founders weighing where to register or expand operations in China, the visit is a useful signal about which sectors and regions official policy currently favors. Two themes stand out: ecological protection and the green computing industry.

The timing is notable. This year is described as the opening year of the "15th Five-Year Plan," and next year Inner Mongolia marks its 80th anniversary. The visit also followed a 2021 strategic orientation for the region — building "two barriers," "two bases" and "one bridgehead" — set out during an earlier inspection three years ago.

Green computing: the core commercial signal

At the Chahar High-Tech Development Zone in Ulanqab, Xi said that in developing new quality productive forces, China is already running alongside or even leading in some fields, and the computing industry is one of them. That is a clear endorsement of a sector foreign founders may already be watching.

Inner Mongolia is one of China's eight national computing hubs and ten major data-center clusters. It is using the national "East Data, West Computing" program and the build-out of a nationwide integrated computing network to convert its wind and solar advantages into computing capacity. Its stated aim is to become a green computing support base serving the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and radiating nationwide.

Ulanqab's specific advantages, as described in the source, are worth noting for site-selection purposes:

• Location: the Inner Mongolia city closest to Beijing, with low latency on direct fiber links to the capital.
• Climate: nearly ten months of natural cooling resources each year.
• Energy: abundant green electricity.
• Geology: stable ground conditions.
• Efficiency: industry-leading power usage effectiveness at its data centers.

The exhibition hall sandbox showed a layout in which computing centers and data halls have risen rapidly, with an industrial structure initially formed around computing, equipment manufacturing and services. Xi described the pace of development as fast with strong future potential, and called for extending the industrial chain, deepening integration of the digital economy with the real economy, and converting computing advantages into development advantages.

Energy and water efficiency are the watch items

Xi examined layout drawings, a source-grid-load-storage model, an integrated cooling station model and a smart power system model, asking detailed questions about power usage effectiveness and water resource utilization efficiency. For founders planning data-heavy operations, efficiency metrics are likely to be a practical compliance and cost consideration rather than a marketing point.

The caution: disorderly expansion and 'involution'

Xi also voiced his main concern about new quality productive forces and China's leading industries: disorderly development, with everyone rushing in at once and then dispersing just as quickly, which he said damages enthusiasm. He also flagged "involution" — blind competition and development that ignores local conditions. Foreign founders should read this as a warning that incentives may favor differentiated, conditions-appropriate projects over me-too capacity.

On talent, the source notes that Ulanqab is combining formal education with social training to build a talent pipeline matched to employer demand as the green computing industry clusters.

Policy backdrop to watch

The article places the visit in a wider policy sequence. Last April, Xi chaired a Politburo collective study session stressing coordinated progress in computing infrastructure. This April, a Politburo meeting proposed strengthening planning and construction of "six networks." With the 15th Five-Year Plan under way, those six networks — including the computing network — are folded into the broader modernization of infrastructure. Recently, the Central Committee and State Council issued an opinion on developing new quality productive forces, explicitly deploying a nationwide integrated computing network and stronger efficient supply of computing power, algorithms and data.

Ecology: less direct, still relevant

The other half of the visit concerned ecological governance. At Huangqihai, a closed inland lake fed by 11 rivers that nearly dried up after the 1970s and 1980s, local officials reported phased results from redrawing protected areas, dredging inflow channels, tackling aquaculture and agricultural non-point pollution, and restoring grassland and forest. Lake area exceeded 85 square kilometers at the end of last month, and fish were monitored again in May last year.

Officials cited figures: since 2023, 130 million mu of ecological construction completed, equal to 85 percent of the volume achieved over more than 40 years in the first five phases of the "Three-North" program; 428 lakes with perennial water surface above one square kilometer; 94 more bird species in lake areas than in 2021; and native fish reappearing in lakes including Daihai and Huangqihai.

Xi stressed that wetland protection should preserve original ecology, that degraded wetlands should be restored mainly through natural recovery with supplementary intervention, and that Inner Mongolia's task on desertification control is relatively heavy and requires sustained effort. He also said grassland protection requires addressing overgrazing in livestock development, and framed green development as integral to high-quality development.

For foreign founders, the practical takeaway is that environmental compliance, water use and local ecological priorities are part of the operating context in this region, not an afterthought.

Practical implications for founders

• Site selection: if your business is data-intensive, Ulanqab's combination of green power, cooling, proximity to Beijing and efficiency performance may merit a closer look.
• Positioning: align proposals with extending industrial chains and integrating digital with real-economy applications, rather than pure capacity build-out.
• Risk framing: expect scrutiny of energy and water efficiency in project approvals and operations.
• Talent: local training systems tied to employer demand may ease hiring, but verify specifics with local authorities.
• Policy literacy: track the "six networks" and the new quality productive forces opinion, as they shape infrastructure and supply priorities.

This summary is based on information published by the relevant Chinese government website and is general information, not legal or tax advice.