China IDC Market Forecast, Development Models, and Emerging Trends

IDC Market Size Forecast : The domestic IDC market has entered a mature stage, with stable application scenarios and increasing digital transformation demand. Growth is expected to slow but the overall market will keep rising, surpassing 200 billion yuan in 2020 driven by 5G and IoT expansion.

Development Model – Scale and Energy‑Efficient Growth Coexisting with Micro‑IDC : In the long term, AI and cloud computing will push IDC toward ultra‑large, green facilities, while “cloud + edge” will lead to distributed micro‑IDC deployments near users for low‑latency services.

Trend – IDC Cloudification Is Inevitable : Traditional IDC providers face limited value‑add and cannot keep up with complex cloud environments. Cloud service providers accelerate IDC cloudification, offering advantages such as cost reduction, scalability, and flexible resource allocation.

Technical Development Trends : The industry is moving toward high‑density, green, modular, and customized data centers with higher performance. Since 2010, policies have promoted energy‑efficient upgrades aiming for PUE < 1.3 by 2020. Modular data centers are now mass‑produced, providing fast, flexible, and energy‑saving solutions across sectors.

Equipment Innovation : Customization becomes a key direction, addressing enterprise needs for secure, scalable, and reliable infrastructure. Network equipment faces pressure from growing traffic, prompting rapid adoption of SDN, white‑box switches, and high‑speed optical modules (40 G, 100 G, and emerging 400 G).

Industry Summary : After a bustling 2018, the global IDC industry in 2019 saw consolidation, overseas expansion, and Chinese manufacturers pursuing “Silk Road” strategies. Amid mixed economic signals, the sector must continue to watch digital‑economy trends and adapt to evolving market dynamics.