中国高科技企业拟把云计算业务推向全球

Chinese tech companies are taking their cloud businesses global, as they chase opportunities abroad offered by the quickly growing international footprint of clients in their home market.

中国的高科技公司正在把他们的云计算业务推向全球。随着本土市场客户的国际足迹迅速增加，这些公司积极追逐由此带来的机遇。

Tencent, Alibaba and Huawei have all announced big investments in cloud computing infrastructure overseas in the first half of 2017.

腾讯(Tencent)、阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和华为(Huawei)都在2017年上半年宣布对境外云计算基础设施作出大笔投资。

The three made up the bulk of the 13 outward greenfield FDI projects worth $1.2bn announced by Chinese companies in data processing, hosting and related services between January and June, according to figures from fDi Markets, an FT data service.

英国《金融时报》旗下数据服务机构fDi Markets的数据显示，在中国企业1月至6月期间宣布的总价值12亿美元的13个数据处理、托管和相关服务对外绿地投资项目中，这三家公司占了大部分。

The figure is greater than any previous full year and makes China the world’s second-largest force for investment in data processing, hosting and related services. The US is far out in front with 46 announced projects for investments of more than $6.9bn, as Amazon, Google and Microsoft expand their global networks of data centres and cloud services.

这个数字大于以往任何一年的全年总数，并使中国在投资数据处理、托管和相关服务方面成为世界第二大主力军。美国仍在这方面遥遥领先，宣布了46个投资项目，总价值69亿美元。亚马逊(Amazon)、谷歌(Google)和微软(Microsoft)纷纷扩大其全球数据中心和云计算服务网络。

Chinese tech groups are positioning to capitalise on the booming international business of other Chinese companies, whose total overseas investment reached a record $109.6bn in 2016, prompting Beijing to step in to prevent excessive capital flight.

中国科技集团正在积极布局，争取获益于其他中资企业蓬勃发展的国际业务，这些企业在2016年的对外投资总额达到创纪录的1096亿美元，促使北京方面介入，采取行动防范资本外逃。

After launching its first data centre outside mainland China in Hong Kong in 2014, Tencent — developer of WeChat, China’s most popular messaging app, and the country’s largest tech company, with a market capitalisation of $380bn at July 31 — has unveiled assertive plans to increase the global footprint of its cloud infrastructure.

2014年在香港推出首个境外数据中心的腾讯，已宣布雄心勃勃的计划，拟增加其云计算基础设施的全球足迹。腾讯是中国最流行的聊天应用微信(WeChat)的开发者，也是中国最大科技公司，其市值在7月31日达到3800亿美元。

In April it opened a data centre in Silicon Valley, the first of five due to launch in 2017 to serve Chinese companies looking to go overseas and international companies expanding their businesses in China and other parts of the world.

4月，腾讯在硅谷启用一个数据中心，这是该公司计划在2017年推出的五个境外数据中心中的第一个，目的是服务于谋求境外扩张的中资企业以及希望在中国和世界其他地区拓展业务的国际企业。

A second followed in Frankfurt in July. Others are planned for Mumbai, Seoul and Moscow.

7月，位于法兰克福的第二个数据中心启用。其他数据中心将分别位于孟买、首尔和莫斯科。

Tencent already had three such overseas facilities (Hong Kong, Singapore and Toronto) and more than a dozen in China. Its revenues from cloud services tripled in 2016, according to last year’s annual report, making up 10 per cent of total revenues.

腾讯已经有三个这样的境外设施(香港、新加坡和多伦多)，在中国境内还有10多个。根据去年的年度报告，该公司2016年的云服务营收增长两倍，占总营收的10%。

Jack Ma’s Alibaba has announced four new data centres in Asia this year — two in Mumbai, one in Jakarta and another in an unspecified location in Malaysia — bringing the company’s total to 17. It has also doubled the capacity of its existing facility in Hong Kong.

马云(Jack Ma)的阿里巴巴宣布今年在亚洲启用四个新的数据中心，其中两个在孟买，一个在雅加达，另一个位于马来西亚某地，将该公司的数据中心总数增至17个。该公司还将其香港现有设施的容量翻番。

Alibaba Cloud’s revenues increased 121 per cent in the fiscal year ending in March, according to company accounts, making up 4 per cent of the group’s total revenues in the year.

根据公司账目，在截至3月的这一财年，阿里云(Alibaba Cloud)的营收增长121%，占集团总营收的4%。

“Alibaba and Tencent need huge data centre networks to operate their own businesses, and each has also used those networks to offer cloud services to external clients — much like Amazon, Microsoft and Google have done,” said John Dinsdale, chief analyst at IT and cloud market intelligence firm Synergy Research Group.

“阿里巴巴和腾讯需要庞大的数据中心网络来运营它们自己的业务，同时也都利用这些网络向外部客户提供云计算服务，就像亚马逊、微软和谷歌在做的那样，”信息技术和云计算市场情报公司Synergy Research Group的首席分析师约翰•丁斯代尔(John Dinsdale)表示。

“Credibility and security will certainly be issues as they try to make that transition and a lot will ride on their record and perceived success over the first few quarters,” he added.

“在它们做出这种转型之际，可信度和安全肯定会成为问题，它们的表现以及它们在最初几个季度给人留下的成功印象将关系重大，”他补充说。

Huawei is also strengthening its cloud division despite running a very different business, focused on providing hard and soft telecommunications infrastructure to telecoms services providers and others.

尽管业务非常不同，但华为也在加强其云计算部门，重点是为电信服务提供商等企业提供电信基础设施的硬件和软件。

The company unveiled a new data centre in New Zealand at the beginning of the year and said it would spin off its cloud business to give it a clear dimension within the group. It plans to invest $1bn in the business over the next few years.

该公司今年初在新西兰推出一个新的数据中心，并表示将分拆云计算业务，使其在集团内部有一个明确维度。华为计划在未来几年向这块业务投资10亿美元。

Jacopo Dettoni is deputy editor of fDi Magazine, an FT publication.

雅各布•德托尼(Jacopo Dettoni)是英国《金融时报》出版物《fDi》杂志的副主编