What Is the “National Cloud”, How It Is Built, and Its Impact on the Cloud Computing Industry

On July 12, 2022, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) held a meeting to advance the professional integration of central enterprises, during which the term “National Cloud” was officially introduced for the first time at a national‑level conference.

China Telecom, together with multiple central‑enterprise strategic investors such as China Electronics, China Electronics Technology Group, China Chengtong, and China Guoxin, established Tianyi Cloud Technology Co., Ltd., a diversified equity cloud company that integrates technology innovation, infrastructure construction, and security protection, forming the core framework of the National Cloud.

The National Cloud aims to provide a unified, secure, and controllable cloud platform for key state‑owned sectors, ensuring stable digital systems, enhancing data asset management, and strengthening security. Its four main values are: unified real‑time data updates for enterprises, improved state‑asset supervision, convenient public services, and enhanced resource allocation among state‑owned enterprises.

In the broader cloud market, China Telecom’s Tianyi Cloud, already the largest telecom‑operator hybrid cloud and a leading public‑cloud IaaS+PaaS provider, is positioned as the primary driver of the National Cloud. However, other telecom operators (Mobile, Unicom) and major cloud vendors (Alibaba Cloud, Huawei Cloud, Tencent Cloud) also see opportunities, with operators acting as integrators and vendors contributing AI, 5G, and application‑level solutions.

The article concludes that while the National Cloud will dominate the state‑sector market, a collaborative ecosystem will emerge where telecom operators and internet cloud giants complement each other, and smaller players can benefit by focusing on applications built on the National Cloud infrastructure.