Sovereign AI
Sovereign programme record · China · 2022–2025
China: programme funding and hardware
China: National AI Programs / Big Fund III / Eastern Data Western Computing
The reconciliation
This record has no dollar amount for these funding stages. Programme details and source amounts appear below.
Announcement recorded. No commitment or disbursement recorded.
Funding components
| Component | Kind | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Big Fund III: RMB344B registered capital | Government | — |
| National AI Industry Fund: RMB60B; founded by Big Fund III and Guozhitou | Government | — |
Hardware on record
| Model | Count | Status | Organisation / role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huawei Ascend 910C | — | Operational | Multiple state and private operators |
| Huawei Ascend 910B | — | Operational | Multiple state and private operators |
Empanelled partners · 11
| Partner | Accelerators | Model | Stage | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alibaba Cloud (Aliyun) | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey identifies Alibaba’s early Zhangjiakou investment and projects near Shanghai.
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| Tencent Cloud | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey identifies Tencent facilities in Gui’an and the Yangtze River Delta.
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| Apple Inc. | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey describes Apple’s data centres in Gui’an and Ulaanqaab, Inner Mongolia.
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| Huawei Cloud | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey identifies Huawei facilities in Gui’an and Inner Mongolia and its participation in the national compute-hub programme.
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| China Mobile | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey identifies China Mobile among the major investors in the eastern-data, western-compute hubs.
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| China Telecom | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-01 |
SinoCities’ May 2024 survey identifies China Telecom among the major investors in the eastern-data, western-compute hubs.
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| Piotech Jianke (科益晟 — via Guotou Jixin) | — | — | Announced | Research database · 2025-09-26 |
TrendForce reported Guotou Jixin’s proposed investment of up to RMB450M in Piotech Jianke in September 2025. Jianke develops 3D-integration equipment. | ||||
| SMIC (Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation) | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-27 |
SMIC received investment from earlier Big Fund phases. The cited material does not identify a company-specific allocation from Phase III.
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| Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. (YMTC) | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-27 |
YMTC received investment from earlier Big Fund phases. The cited material does not identify a company-specific allocation from Phase III.
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| ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-27 |
The cited fund history lists CXMT among Big Fund investments but gives no company-specific allocation from Phase III.
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| Hua Hong Semiconductor | — | — | Commissioned | Press or analyst · 2024-05-27 |
Hua Hong received investment from earlier Big Fund phases. The cited material does not identify a company-specific allocation from Phase III.
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External dependence
NVIDIA hardware: Unknown · US technology: High. These are editorial assessments based on the programme’s procurement disclosures.
Named partners: Huawei, Biren Technology, Alibaba, ByteDance, Tencent, Baidu, MIIT.
China’s national compute plans combine regional data-centre development with investment in domestic chips and AI companies. Big Fund III has RMB344B in registered capital and helped establish the RMB60B National AI Industry Investment Fund. Its contribution to the latter is not separately disclosed, so the two fund sizes have no additive total here.
Data-quality caveats on this record · 6
- Big Fund III helped establish the RMB60B AI fund. Xuhui’s January 2025 announcement gives no contribution split, so the two fund sizes are shown separately without an additive total.
- Big Fund III’s RMB344B is registered capital. The six state-owned banks’ May 2024 announcements included contributions to be made over ten years; registration does not establish that the money has been paid in or invested.
- The cited material gives no fund-level disbursement amount. Provincial and municipal programmes also finance AI, so the two funds do not describe all public support.
- MIT Technology Review reported unused AI data-centre capacity in March 2025. Its investigation does not establish a national utilisation rate.
- The cited material does not provide an installed count for the Ascend 910B or 910C.
- Bloomberg reported a draft RMB2T nationwide AI data-centre plan in June 2026. This record carries no enacted primary document or approved budget for that proposal; it is excluded from the funding figures.
The evidence trail
8 cited sources- China Daily report hosted by gov.cn on Big Fund III’s RMB344B registered capital and planned bank contributions. — Primary source · accessed 2026-04-07
- Bloomberg reporting on a draft nationwide AI data-centre plan in June 2026. — Press or analyst · accessed 2026-07-14
- Background on the Big Fund’s phases and registered capital. — Press or analyst · accessed 2026-03-28
- Goldman Sachs projection of AI data-centre capital expenditure by Chinese providers. — Press or analyst · accessed 2026-03-28
- MIT Technology Review investigation into unused AI data-centre capacity, March 2025. — Press or analyst · accessed 2026-03-28
- Strider and SCSP analysis of China’s AI infrastructure development. — Research database · accessed 2026-03-28
- RAND analysis of China’s AI industrial policy. — Research database · accessed 2026-03-28
- Xuhui government announcement identifying Big Fund III and Guozhitou as founders of the RMB60B AI fund. — Primary source · accessed 2026-09-08
Machine accessThe same record, machine-readable: the evidence-trail feed and the derivation-chain export.