AWS and Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology Co. Announce a Second AWS Region in China

AWS has formed a strategic technology collaboration with NWCD, and NWCD operates and provides services from the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, in full compliance with Chinese regulations. Founded in 2015, NWCD is a licensed datacenter and cloud services provider, based in Ningxia, China. NWCD joins Sinnet, the operator of the AWS China (Beijing) Region, as AWS’s second operating partner in China. Through these relationships, AWS provides its industry-leading technology, guidance, and expertise to NWCD and Sinnet, while NWCD and Sinnet operate and provide AWS Cloud services to local customers. While the cloud services offered in both AWS China Regions are the same as those available in other AWS Regions, the AWS China Regions are isolated from all other AWS Regions and operated by AWS’s Chinese partners separately from all other AWS Regions. Customers using the AWS China Regions enter into customer agreements with Sinnet in Beijing and NWCD in Ningxia, rather than with AWS.

The AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD, offers two Availability Zones at launch. AWS Regions are comprised of Availability Zones, which refer to technology infrastructure in separate and distinct geographic locations with enough distance to significantly reduce the risk of a single event impacting availability, yet near enough for business continuity applications that require rapid failover. Each Availability Zone has independent power, cooling, and physical security, and is connected to national backbone networks via local telecom carriers’ high-speed fiber optic networks. AWS customers focused on high availability can architect their applications to run in multiple Availability Zones or across both AWS China Regions to achieve even higher fault-tolerance.

“Together with our partner NWCD, and with deep appreciation of the support we’ve received from the Zhongwei municipal government and Ningxia government, we’re excited to announce the launch of the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD. The second AWS Region in China is part of AWS’s ongoing commitment to offer best-in-class cloud technologies to Chinese customers,” said Andy Jassy, CEO, AWS. “For years, AWS and our partners have had an enthusiastic base of customers in China, a country with one of the world’s largest and most dynamic cloud ecosystems. Our customers build their businesses on AWS because in addition to being the world’s largest cloud, it has more functionality than any other cloud platform, an extensive partner community, and unmatched maturity, security, and performance. We’re taking this step jointly with the Ningxia government and our operating partner, NWCD, both of whom worked tirelessly with us to achieve this milestone. Coupled with the AWS China (Beijing) Region, operated by Sinnet, the second AWS China Region will serve as the foundation for new cloud initiatives in China, especially in Western China, helping to transform businesses, increase innovation, and enhance the regional economy.”

“I have been promoting and incubating cloud computing and technology startups for the last five years, and have worked with various Chinese local governments to create a cloud computing incubation center called Cloud Valley,” said Edward Tian, founder of NWCD. “Today, we are honored to announce operationally availability of the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD. We expect it to play a significant role in the ongoing development of China’s western region. It will be an important part of Cloud Valley in China. As one of AWS’s strategic partners when it first entered China, we are delighted to witness this moment as an important step in furthering our collaboration. The AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD, ensures the delivery of AWS’s leading cloud services, along with flexible and effective local support. As an important part of the cloud computing ecosystem, the combination of cloud technology and Western China’s rich resources will enhance the local economy of the region, foster the development of the manufacturing and industrial sector, and promote the prosperity and development of China’s cloud ecosystem.”

He Jian, Secretary of Zhongwei Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said, “By establishing the Western Cloud Valley in Ningxia Autonomous Region, we see an opportunity to develop our cloud industry and to align with the opportunities presented by the national One Belt One Road Initiative. We have developed a close collaboration with AWS based on mutual trust, and are delighted that our region is now offering highly resilient, high performance data centers to enterprises across the nation. We have already seen a rapid growth in the cloud computing industry, and with the unique resources of Ningxia combined with the mature expertise of AWS Cloud, we will set a great example for economic transformation in the west of China.”

The establishment of the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD, will also boost development of the industrial ecosystem of the Western Cloud Valley in Zhongwei, as well as help educate and train local students as future cloud computing talent for Western China. Jointly conceived of and launched by Ningxia University, AWS, and the Zhongwei City Government, the Ningxia University – Amazon Cloud Computing School has about 600 students enrolled to date, with 140 students expected to graduate in 2018.

Customers Welcome the AWS China (Ningxia) Region

Thousands of active customers in China already use AWS China (Beijing) Region services, operated by Sinnet, and tens of thousands of Chinese customers use other AWS Regions around the world, including Aucma, BGI, BSH, Changyou.com, Cheetah Mobile, EF, Envision Energy, Hikvision, Hisense, iQIYI, Kunlun.com, Lenovo, Lianjia.com, Liulishuo, MangoTV, MaryKay, Meitu, Mengniu Dairy Group, Midea, musical.ly, OPPO, Oriental Pearl Group, Samsung Electronics, Sengled, Suzhou Daily, Sixth Tone, Sunshine Paper, TCL, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Top Score Fashion Shoes, TP-LINK, TuSimple, Unipus, VIPKID, Xiaomi, Xiaoshouyi and many more.

TCL Corporation is a business conglomerate focused on smart product manufacturing and Internet application services on a global scale. Chen Jun, deputy general manager of HAWK, TCL Group, said, “By launching the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, AWS continues to bring their world-class cloud services to the Chinese market. Now TCL, and many others in the manufacturing industry, will have access to an even more reliable cloud platform that provides broader functionality in analysis, artificial intelligence/machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) for our strategic business transformation, in particular TCL’s Product plus Service and Intelligence plus Internet solutions.”

Lenovo is a global leader in providing innovative consumer, commercial, and data center technology. Yu Chentao, Director and Distinguished Researcher, Big Data Business Unit, Capital and Incubator Group, said, “Lenovo industrial big data solutions not only support Lenovo’s production and operations worldwide, but also offer our manufacturing customers a high-performance and one-stop business analysis and optimization environment with industrial intelligence. As AWS’s customer and APN partner, both in China and globally, the addition of a second AWS China Region in Ningxia, operated by NWCD, will provide Lenovo and our customers with more services and expanded disaster recovery solutions in China.”

Samsung Electronics is a global technology leader transforming televisions, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, and more, through their focus on constant innovation. Daijun Zhang, CEO of Samsung Electronics China Research Center (Beijing), said, “We have been anticipating the launch of the AWS China (Ningxia) Region for some time. A second AWS Region in China will help Samsung to provide more flexible and resilient applications while reducing our costs. This significantly accelerates our ability to bring more innovations to our customers in China.”

Envision Energy is a top-tier global provider for smart energy technologies and services, including sales of smart turbines, smart wind farms, energy management software, and technological services. Colin Yu, Vice President of Envision, said, “Envision has been working with AWS to develop the largest Energy IoT Platform – EnOS™, to connect devices, systems, and people in the energy world. A second AWS China Region will help EnOS better serve its customers throughout the country with lower costs, higher scalability, and faster performance.”