The Envision Galaxy Campus in Ulaanqab city. [Photo/Benteng Integrated Media Center]

Ulaanqab in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region is emerging as a major artificial intelligence computing hub, drawing large-scale data center investment with low-cost green power, natural cooling, and high-speed links to Beijing.

On Aug 6, China's green technology company Envision Group announced the commissioning of its Envision Galaxy Campus in Ulaanqab. The project plans to exceed 2 gigawatts (GW) in power capacity, deliver up to one million FLOPS of computing power, and build a 120,000-square-meter facility capable of supporting up to one million AI computing cards. It is a flagship project under Envision's global green computing initiative.

Low-cost green electricity is a key advantage for Ulaanqab's AI computing industry. With green power accounting for about 67 percent of its electricity supply, the city can offer prices of around 0.30 yuan ($0.04) per kilowatt-hour, compared with 0.60 to 0.70 yuan in eastern coastal regions. For Envision Group's planned 2 GW computing campus, annual electricity consumption could reach 17.5 billion kilowatt-hours at full capacity. At these rates, Ulaanqab's lower electricity prices could save the project an estimated 5.25 billion to 7 billion yuan a year, highlighting the economic advantage of locating energy-intensive computing facilities close to renewable power sources.

Ulaanqab deploys large-scale wind facilities across its grasslands. [Photo/Benteng Integrated Media Center]

Ulaanqab's cool climate further reduces energy demand. With an average annual temperature of around 4.3 C, the city can use naturally cold outdoor air to cool data centers for up to 10 months a year. This is a significant advantage for AI computing facilities, where high-performance chips generate substantial heat and require continuous cooling to maintain stable operation. In warmer regions, mechanical cooling systems consume additional electricity to dissipate this heat, increasing operating costs. Ulaanqab's low temperatures reduce reliance on energy-intensive cooling equipment, helping data centers lower power consumption and devote more electricity to computing.

Fast connections to Beijing enable remote computing services. Located about 300 kilometers from Beijing, Ulaanqab has two dedicated, high-capacity fiber-optic routes linking it to the capital. Network latency between the two cities can be as low as 4.2 milliseconds, allowing businesses to keep research, development, and other operations near Beijing while running computing-intensive workloads in Ulaanqab. The arrangement supports China's "East Data, West Computing" initiative, which channels computing demand from eastern regions to areas with greater energy and land resources.

Beyond its natural advantages, Ulaanqab has spent more than a decade building its data center industry. Since entering the big data sector in 2013, the city has introduced targeted policies to attract investment and support industrial growth. Its Three-Year Action Plan for Building a "Token Capital" (2026–28) sets out a roadmap to develop from a cloud computing hub into an intelligent computing center and, ultimately, a hub for AI token generation. Revised preferential policies for the big data service outsourcing industry provide support for land and premises, business operations, and talent recruitment.

Huawei's cloud data center in Ulaanqab. [Photo/Benteng Integrated Media Center]

These efforts are also backed by Inner Mongolia's extensive energy resources. The region's installed power capacity has exceeded 300 million kilowatts, including 176 million kW of renewable energy capacity. It also holds more than half of China's wind energy resources, providing a strong energy foundation for power-intensive AI computing facilities.

The combination of natural advantages, energy resources, and policy support has helped Ulaanqab establish a substantial data center cluster. Major technology companies, including Huawei, Alibaba, Apple, and ByteDance, have established a presence in the city. It now has 89 data center projects, with intelligent computing accounting for more than 90 percent of its total computing capacity. This established ecosystem provides AI businesses with computing infrastructure and related services, strengthening Ulaanqab's role in China's AI computing network.