Recently, a notification was issued to launch a special initiative for empowering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with inclusive computing power. The document explicitly proposes "exploring innovative services such as 'computing power banks' and 'computing power supermarkets,' supporting SMEs to deposit idle computing resources, enabling flexible access through cross-regional and cross-cycle scheduling."
In active response to this national strategic layout, BANK OF CHINA and the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology formally signed a memorandum of cooperation at the "2026 Inclusive Computing Power Empowers SME Development Conference" in Xiong'an New Area. This marks BANK OF CHINA as the first financial institution to participate in the ecological construction of China's national computing power platform.
Both parties will deepen cooperation in areas such as digital yuan payment and settlement, computing power financing support, and cross-border finance, leveraging the national computing power platform. They aim to jointly build a new, open, collaborative, secure, efficient, inclusive, and accessible computing power industry ecosystem.
In the era of the intelligent economy, data, computing power, and algorithms are the three core elements of artificial intelligence. The payment and settlement system is a key hub for the efficient circulation of computing resources. BANK OF CHINA is actively leveraging its professional expertise in the digital yuan field, committed to creating an efficient path for computing power transactions from matching to delivery.
Round-the-Clock: Relying on BANK OF CHINA's digital yuan service system, it will provide "computing power banks" and "computing power supermarkets" with 24/7 payment and settlement capabilities, enabling an online closed loop for computing power matching, trading, delivery, and settlement.
Trustworthy: Fully leveraging the legal tender status, security, and programmable features of the digital yuan, it will use technologies like smart contracts to enhance the efficiency and履约保障 of computing power transactions, establishing a trustworthy foundation for cross-regional, cross-cycle, and cross-entity computing power circulation.
New Paradigm: Both parties will actively explore innovative applications of the digital yuan in AI industry scenarios. Using smart contracts to achieve targeted fund delivery and履约 management, they will promote the integration of fund flow, computing power flow, and business flow, enhancing the precision and controllability of financial services, and actively exploring the new paradigm of "digital finance + intelligent computing power."
Centered on the needs of the national computing power platform construction, both parties will jointly build a collaborative sci-tech finance support system to improve the alignment of financial services with the development needs of the AI industry.
Deepening the Upstream Industry: Focusing on scenarios such as intelligent computing center construction, green energy support, computing infrastructure deployment, and equipment procurement, BANK OF CHINA will provide comprehensive financial support including medium-to-long-term financing, project loans, equipment leasing, and supply chain finance to accelerate computing infrastructure development.
Activating the Midstream Industry: Around computing power platform operation, resource scheduling, and transaction matching, both parties will jointly explore innovative models to promote the standardized, marketized, and inclusive circulation of computing resources like water and electricity, enhancing the efficiency of national computing resource allocation.
Inclusivity for the Downstream Industry: Targeting tech-based SMEs, innovation and entrepreneurship teams, and new innovation entities like OPCs (One Person Companies), BANK OF CHINA will provide exclusive financial products such as "Sci-Tech Innovation Loans," "Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative Loans," and "Computing Power Loans." This aims to lower the barriers for AI enterprises to access computing resources and conduct model training and application development, enabling more SMEs and individual developers to "afford, access, and effectively use" AI capabilities.
This cooperation will be first implemented in Beijing and Xiong'an, leveraging the advantages of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region's intelligent computing center cluster, green energy resources, and sci-tech innovation hub for pilot projects. Subsequently, based on the construction framework and progress of the national computing power platform, support will be synchronized and gradually expanded nationwide to key AI innovation hubs and regions.
While serving the comprehensive domestic development of computing power and promoting optimal resource allocation, BANK OF CHINA is actively expanding international cooperation space, exploring new paths for cross-border computing-network synergy.
Leveraging BANK OF CHINA's global layout and practical experience from the multilateral central bank digital currency bridge (mBridge) project, both parties will also jointly explore cross-border computing power matching and settlement scenarios. They will actively research innovative paths in areas such as cross-border computing power trading, cross-border digital payments, and international AI cooperation, exploring the construction of a cross-border computing power financial service system to help China's AI industry integrate into the global innovation network at a higher level.
The national computing power platform is a comprehensive national-level computing power service platform. Under guidance, it has been steadily promoted since 2017, integrating "supply, demand, and service." It enables compatibility and interoperability between different systems, platforms, and tools, further promoting the efficient allocation and value release of computing resources, making computing power services truly inclusive, convenient, and user-friendly.
BANK OF CHINA will further leverage its global advantages and comprehensive characteristics. Centered on the needs of the AI industry chain and the national computing power platform construction, it will continue to improve its sci-tech finance product system and digital yuan application scenarios, contributing greater financial strength to cultivating new forms of the intelligent economy.
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