The Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region has proposed to set up a China-Arab States Internet Economic Pilot Zone in the city of Zhongwei, where a large-scale cloud valley has started to take shape, according to Xu Liqun, an NPC deputy, on March 7.

“The establishment of the zone is in accordance with the fast development of Internet economy and Zhongwei possesses a related competitiveness,” he said. Giving full play to the role of exchange house in the zone can provide policy support to the construction, Xu added.

After the contract was signed between U.S. Amazon and Zhongwei Cloud Valley, a large-scale base has taken shape with many renowned cloud computing enterprises wanting to enter, Xu said. The investments in human resources, land and electricity are just half of those in coastal areas, Xu added.

The pilot zone will greatly promote the economic, trade, scientific and cultural cooperation, as well as the exchanges between China and 57 Arab States around the world. “I hope we can get the approval from the Industry and Information Technology Ministry,” he concluded.