China launches world's first commercial underwater data center

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) - China has launched the world's first commercial underwater data center in the southern Hainan province, the South China Morning Post reported Tuesday.​​​​​​​

The data center, managed by Shenzhen HiCloud Data Centre Technology, is now operational.

The servers manage a wide range of digital services, such as restaurant recommendations and travel hacks.

The 1,300-ton data cabin hosting the servers will be installed 35 meters (114.8 feet) underwater. The first phase of construction concluded in Lingshui County earlier this year.

The entire data cabin was placed in the deep sea due to seawater's ability to help cool the temperature, which is subject to intense heat, according to Pu Ding, a project manager at Shenzhen HiCloud Data Centre Technology.

"Compared to land-based data centers, data centers under the sea can reduce energy consumption needed for cooling, helping to lower operational costs," said Pu

Each data cabin holds 24 server racks with a capacity of 400 to 500 servers.

Hainan province, which is China's largest pilot free-trade zone, proposed building a subsea data center with 100 data cabins under its 14th five-year plan.

China had also launched a pilot program in 2024 that allows full foreign ownership of data centers and value-added telecoms services in Hainan and three other hubs -- Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen -- due to increased technological competition with the US.

Microsoft also launched an underwater data center project in 2014, which was not operational as of 2024.