Xi: Prioritize ecological conservation

President Xi Jinping has called for efforts to coordinate high-quality development with high-level protection of the environment, and underlined the need to unswervingly follow the path of prioritizing ecological conservation and pursuing green development.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks on Friday during an inspection tour in Ulaanqab, Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Noting that green development is an essential aspect of high-quality growth, he urged a holistic approach to the conservation of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts, and called for efforts to promote carbon reduction, pollution reduction, green expansion and growth in a coordinated manner.

Xi visited the Huangqihai Lake nature reserve, where he heard reports on the autonomous region's efforts to strengthen local ecological conservation, particularly enhance environmental governance and restore the ecosystem of Huangqihai Lake, an inland lake that was once on the verge of drying up due to climatic and other factors.

He underlined the need to protect the wetlands, with focus on enhancing the quality and stability of ecosystems while maintaining biodiversity.

With abundant wind and solar resources, Ulaanqab has leveraged its advantages in terms of location, climate and green electricity to develop the green computing industry, achieving significant progress.

In the Qahar High-tech Industrial Development Zone, Xi learned about the progress of the "East Data, West Computing" project, a megaproject that aims to coordinate the computing capabilities of the country's eastern regions with inland western regions, as well as the development of green computing in Inner Mongolia.

He pointed out that implementing the "East Data, West Computing" project and building an integrated national computing network is an important decision made by the CPC Central Committee.

Xi emphasized the need to strengthen scientific planning, resources support and security assurance to ensure that existing projects are operated in an efficient manner and that projects still under construction are completed as scheduled.

Efforts should be made to extend the industrial chain and promote the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy, continuously transforming the strength in computing into development advantages, he said.

While interacting with project leaders, technicians and staff members of the development zone, Xi emphasized that the computing network is one of the "six networks" planned and constructed by the country, and it is in a stage of accelerated development with broad prospects.

China is accelerating a sweeping infrastructure plan centered around "six networks" — water, power, computing, telecommunications, urban pipelines and logistics — in order to stabilize investment, create jobs and lay the groundwork for the next phase of the country's technological and industrial transformation.

Highlighting the importance of "computing-electricity synergy" and "computing-water synergy", Xi encouraged them to ensure smooth construction and operation of computing center projects and play an active role in the development of green computing, thereby contributing more to the building of a digital China and promoting the development of new quality productive forces.

In 2025, Inner Mongolia generated more than 270 billion kilowatt-hours of renewable power, ranking among the top regions nationwide. This clean energy provides a stable power supply for energy-intensive data centers.

As of July this year, the autonomous region's total computing power reached 345,000 PFlops, a unit representing one quadrillion calculations per second. Notably, over 85 percent of the electricity used by regional data centers comes from green power.

Inner Mongolia has developed a dual-hub strategy centered in Hohhot, the regional capital, and Ulaanqab. The two centers operate in synergy and complement each other, efficiently handling high-intensity artificial intelligence computing tasks for both industrial and public sectors.

During his tour, Xi also inspected local distinctive agricultural and livestock products, and encouraged the region to strengthen links between production and sales to increase incomes for local farmers and herdsmen.

He emphasized that China is vast, with significant differences in resource endowments across its various regions. All regions should build on their respective conditions, leverage their comparative advantages, and pursue high-quality development tailored to local circumstances, he said.

Xi's last inspection trip to Inner Mongolia was in June 2023. During that tour, he had urged the autonomous region to consolidate its role as a vital ecological barrier in northern China — the country's important base for energy and strategic resources, its important production base for agricultural commodities and livestock, and a vital gateway for opening-up to countries and regions north of China.