Calculating and Electricity Collaboration: Strengthening the New Foundation of the Intelligent Economy

In 2026, the government’s work report first proposed “creating a new form of intelligent economy,” which includes “implementing ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters, computing and electricity collaboration, and other new infrastructure projects, strengthening nationwide integrated computing power monitoring and scheduling, and supporting the development of public clouds.”

I believe that computing and electricity collaboration has become the core of new infrastructure projects. This not only demonstrates the country’s high regard for the AI industry foundation but also reveals the key to future economic development: the deep integration of computing power and electricity. This integration will reshape industrial patterns and accelerate the formation of a new intelligent economy.

First, from industry pilots to inclusion in new infrastructure, computing and electricity collaboration will further solidify the foundation of the intelligent economy.

From a policy perspective, computing and electricity collaboration is a step-by-step strategic layout. It starts with the “East Data West Computing” framework, then the new power system strengthening energy foundations, and now, with the top-level national guidance, a comprehensive system covering planning, construction, dispatching, and marketization has taken shape.

Computing power is the core engine of the intelligent economy, and electricity is the fundamental support for expanding computing capacity. Currently, scenes like large AI model training, autonomous driving, and industrial intelligent connectivity are exploding, with demand for intelligent computing increasing exponentially. The issues of “tight computing resources, expensive electricity, and high energy consumption” have become industry bottlenecks. In the past, computing and electricity collaboration was mainly explored locally or through departmental pilots. Now, with it written into the government work report, the subsequent implementation of a series of measures will leverage China’s large-scale, highly dispatchable power grid to further transform into a competitive advantage for the intelligent economy, providing stable, green, and low-cost energy support for AI, cloud computing, and industrial internet.

Second, mutual empowerment of computing power and electricity opens new green and efficient space.

The explosive growth of AI large models and intelligent computing centers has made data centers major electricity consumers, and issues like power shortages frequently occur. Over the past year, the phrase “the end of AI is electricity” has become a consensus, accurately revealing the symbiotic relationship between computing power and electricity. The essence of computing and electricity collaboration is to organically integrate computing infrastructure with the power system (generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption) through intelligent dispatching, creating a virtuous cycle of “powering computing with electricity and promoting electricity with computing.” This ensures that computing follows green electricity and electricity is optimized for computing.

For the computing industry, this can significantly reduce electricity costs and break through high energy consumption constraints. For the power system, intelligent computing centers, as adjustable loads, can participate in grid peak shaving and valley filling, enhance renewable energy absorption, and help achieve the “dual carbon” goals. This opens up new markets for data centers, energy storage, smart dispatching, and green energy operators, while also promoting industry chain upgrades toward low-carbon and intensive development, forging a new path of coordinated digital and green economies.

Finally, a unified national plan prevents redundant construction and resource misallocation.

This year’s government work report conveys a top-level approach of coordinated planning and precise allocation—simultaneously advancing ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters and computing-electrical collaboration projects, outlining a clear blueprint for new infrastructure of the intelligent economy. Strengthening nationwide integrated computing power monitoring and dispatching aims to break regional barriers and computing power silos, enabling computing resources to be managed and supplied as water and electricity are—holistically and on demand. Supporting the development of public clouds promotes the democratization of computing power, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to “go to the cloud, use data, and empower intelligence” at low cost, activating innovation across the entire region. A green, efficient, inclusive, and secure foundation for the intelligent economy is taking shape. This approach not only avoids redundant construction and resource misallocation but also stimulates industry vitality through institutional innovation, ensuring that computing and electricity collaboration moves from blueprint to reality.

Using electricity as the foundation for AI and AI to empower electricity, the deep coupling of “computing” and “electricity” is painting a new picture of China’s intelligent economy, injecting strong momentum into high-quality development.