China has unveiled an action plan for the green development of data centers, outlining a series of targets aimed at accelerating the low-carbon transition within the sector.

By 2025, the average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of data centers, a metric for energy efficiency, is projected to decrease to below 1.5, according to a plan jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and two central government agencies.

The plan also aims to increase the utilization rate of renewable energy in data centers by 10 percent each year.

As an important infrastructure for the development of new quality productive forces, data centers are one of the sectors experiencing rapid growth in energy consumption in China. It is anticipated that the power usage of data centers in the country will increase by 15 percent each year.

The action plan proposed that by the end of 2030, data centers nationwide will achieve an average Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) and energy and carbon efficiency per unit of computing power at internationally advanced levels, while also further enhancing the utilization of renewable energy.

To meet the aforementioned goals, China will enhance the organization of data centers, strengthen the energy and water use efficiency requirements for new projects, support the energy-saving and carbon reduction transformation of existing projects, and promote the use of energy-saving technologies and equipment.

Industrial data indicate that China's total computing power now ranks second in the world. By the end of 2023, the number of operational data center racks in the country exceeded 8.1 million.