Data center site selection in China: compliance now picks the site

Published in Site Selection Magazine | By Miranda Dai, Tractus China

Data center site selection in China no longer starts with power prices or cooling costs. Since late 2024, computing assets have been classified as critical information infrastructure, and where a foreign investor can legally own and control the asset now decides the map. Full foreign ownership is possible in just four pilot areas: Beijing, Lingang in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hainan. Everywhere else, including across the eight national computing hubs, foreign equity is capped at 50%.

In her latest piece for Site Selection Magazine, Tractus China‘s Miranda Dai walks through what that means in practice: a three-part security, cybersecurity, and data compliance review for every foreign-backed project, approval timelines of 8 to 12 months for wholly owned structures against 5 to 7 for joint ventures, and the audit-trail requirements where most applications stall.

Cost still matters, but it operates inside the ownership constraint. The article compares the eastern pilot zones with the western hubs, where free-air cooling and renewable power at CNY 0.28 to 0.40 per kWh cut operating costs by more than 30%, and sets out a workload-based framework for choosing between a wholly owned facility, a domestic joint venture, or a hybrid of both.