薛玉潔

In its latest white paper， published in October 2019， the Development Research Center （DRC） of the State Council， outlined the current state of the countrys cloud computing industry， as well as prospects for its future development and application. The report predicts that the domestic industry will eclipse 300 billion yuan by 2023—over a threefold increase from its 2018 market value of 96.28 billion yuan—and that， in five years time， over 60% of the countrys businesses and government agencies will rely on cloud computing as an integral part of their daily operations.

Cloud computing entails using a network of remote servers—rather than a local server or a personal computer—to store， manage， and process data. With its 854 million internet users， China has the largest online population of any country in the world， generating an enormous amount of data that must be stored securely and can be extensively analyzed. Compared with on-site servers， cloud-based services are more scalable， affordable， and secure.

According to a 2019 report from market research firm IDC， cloud computing and artificial intelligence will more than double the rates of innovation （×2.6） and productivity （×2.3） at Chinese companies and organizations by 2021. For these reasons， cloud computing is considered a crucial infrastructural cog1 in Chinas push for an industrial upgrade as it moves to embrace new technologies like artificial intelligence， internet of things， and big data.

“Looking around the world， cloud computing has become the infrastructure behind industrial intelligence upgrades，” Gong Chenguang， director of the DRCs International Technology and Economy Institute， said at a press conference announcing the report. “We should strengthen governmental backing， take decisive action， and follow a clear development target … to push for the high-quality domestic development of the cloud computing industry.”

The Chinese government is already actively pushing for the development of the domestic cloud computing industry. Chinas Internet Plus strategy， introduced in 2015， promoted the integration of cloud computing， big data， and internet of things to modernize manufacturing and other domestic industries.

According to data from the National Development and Reform Commission， Chinas top economic planning body， in each year since 2010， the central government has invested over 1 billion yuan toward developing the domestic cloud computing industry， amounting to over 10 billion yuan invested as of last year.

In the decade since e-commerce giant Alibaba became one of the first domestic players to tap into the market in 2009， Chinas internet giants， too， have been pouring resources into building up their cloud infrastructure services. Companies like Huawei， Tencent， and Baidu are now working feverishly to deploy their own cloud computing-based services.

Canalys estimates that Chinas cloud infrastructure services market grew 66.9% in Q4 2019， as total spend reached $3.3 billion. China represented 10.8% of the worldwide total， making it the second largest market. Alibaba Cloud remained the leading cloud service provider in Q4 2019， accounting for 46.4% of total spend. Tencent Cloud increased its share to 18.0%， while Baidu AI Cloud moved into third place with an 8.8% share.

The recent coronavirus （COVID-19） outbreak has caused chaos for the tech industry， with retail stores closing around the world， major tech conferences such as Apple WWDC， Microsoft Build， Google I/O and MWC2 turned into virtual events or canceled， and markets around the world facing massive losses as the global economy slows to a crawl.

In their bids to fight the pandemic， Chinas three major cloud providers have offered free services to government agencies， businesses， researchers， and students. Alibaba Cloud， Tencent Cloud， and Baidu AI Cloud have all opened up aspects of their platforms for free to select users， offering various services to help researchers as well as business professionals forced to shelter at home.

By setting a precedent for other major tech firms to follow， Chinese cloud giants are making social responsibility a requirement for tech giants that have the power to flatten the curve3 with a bit of corporate generosity. Heres hoping it becomes the model for future catastrophes as well.

國務院發(fā)展研究中心（DRC）在2019年10月發(fā)布的最新白皮書中概述了中國云計算行業(yè)的現(xiàn)狀以及未來發(fā)展和應用的前景。該報告預測，到2023年，國內云計算產業(yè)規(guī)模將超過3000億元人民幣——達到其2018年市值（962.8億元人民幣）的3倍多。并且，在5年的時間內，全國60%以上的企業(yè)和政府機構將把云計算作為其日常運營不可或缺的一部分。

云計算需要使用遠程服務器網絡（而不是本地服務器或個人計算機）來存儲、管理和處理數(shù)據。中國擁有8.54億互聯(lián)網用戶，是世界上所有國家中網民人數(shù)最多的，所生成的大量數(shù)據必須安全存儲并可以進行廣泛的分析。與本地服務器相比，基于云的服務伸縮性更強，更加實惠和安全。

市場調查機構國際數(shù)據公司2019年的報告顯示，到2021年，云計算和人工智能將使中國企業(yè)和機構組織的創(chuàng)新率和生產率翻一番以上（分別達到2.6倍和2.3倍）。中國在著力發(fā)展人工智能、物聯(lián)網和大數(shù)據等新技術的同時也在推進產業(yè)升級，基于上述原因，云計算被認為是這一推進舉措中重要的基礎設施建設環(huán)節(jié)。

國務院發(fā)展研究中心國際技術經濟研究所學術委員會主任宮晨光在宣布該報告的新聞發(fā)布會上表示：“環(huán)顧全球，云計算已經成為產業(yè)智能化升級的基礎設施，我們應該強化政府推動，即刻行動，明確云計算發(fā)展目標……切實推動我國云計算產業(yè)高質量發(fā)展?！?/p>

中國政府已經在積極推動國內云計算行業(yè)的發(fā)展。為了實現(xiàn)制造業(yè)和國內其他產業(yè)的現(xiàn)代化，中國于2015年推出了“互聯(lián)網+”戰(zhàn)略，促進了云計算、大數(shù)據和物聯(lián)網的融合。

根據中國最高經濟規(guī)劃部門國家發(fā)展和改革委員會的數(shù)據，自2010年以來，中央政府每年投資超過10億元人民幣用于發(fā)展國內云計算產業(yè)，截至去年已累計投資超過100億元人民幣。

2009年，電子商務巨頭阿里巴巴成為首批進入云計算市場的國內參與者。此后十年，中國互聯(lián)網巨頭們也一直在傾注資源打造其云基礎設施服務。華為、騰訊和百度等公司現(xiàn)在正積極部署各自基于云計算的服務。

調研機構科納仕估計，2019年第四季度中國云基礎設施服務市場規(guī)模增長了66.9%，總支出達到33億美元。中國占全球總量的10.8%，成為第二大市場。阿里云在2019年第四季度仍然是云服務提供商的領頭羊，占總支出的46.4%。騰訊云的份額增至18%，而百度智能云以8.8%的份額位列第三。

最近的新冠病毒疫情引發(fā)科技行業(yè)動蕩，全球各地的零售店關閉，諸如蘋果全球開發(fā)者大會、微軟開發(fā)者大會、谷歌開發(fā)者大會和世界移動通信大會之類的主要技術會議轉為線上虛擬活動或被直接取消，并且隨著全球經濟放緩，全球市場面臨巨大損失。

為了抗擊疫情，中國的三大云服務商已向政府機構、企業(yè)、研究人員和學生提供免費服務。阿里云、騰訊云和百度智能云均已向指定用戶免費開放平臺上一些功能，提供各種服務來幫助研究人員和被迫宅家的商務人士。

中國云巨頭為其他大型科技公司樹立可供效仿的先例，承擔社會責任成為各個科技巨頭對自我的一項要求，這些科技巨頭有能力用企業(yè)的些微善意助推疫情防控。希望這也能成為未來應對災難的樣板。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）