(Yicai) Oct. 30 -- The Lingang Special Area of the China Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has accepted the first batch of applications submitted by foreign enterprises to carry out value-added telecommunication business.

Seven foreign companies had their applications accepted, Cao Yang, deputy head of the data division of Lingang's management committee, said at a ceremony held yesterday during the 2024 International Data Economy Industry Co-operation Conference.

Once the applications are approved, the firms will be able to deeply participate in the Chinese computing power and cloud services industries, Cao noted, without disclosing for which specific business licenses they applied.

The Shanghai-based subsidiary of US video games engine developer Unity Software requested permits to carry out the internet data center and content delivery network businesses, which before were handled by a third-party services provider, Yicai learned from Chen Yinhui, Unity Shanghai's government affairs director.

After receiving the licenses, Unity Shanghai will be able to retain its internet data center and content delivery network businesses' revenues and profits, Chen explained.

On Oct. 23, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said China would start trials to allow wholly foreign-owned entities engaged in the internet data center and other types of value-added telecoms business activities to become the sole operators and financiers of related projects in areas of Beijing, Hainan province, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

The internet data center business is key for computing power facility development. Its inclusion in the pilot scheme is a big step for China's information and communication industries opening-up since the country's accession into the World Trade Organization.

China's cloud computing industry is developing rapidly. Its market value soared more than 32 percent to CNY602 billion (USD84.4 billion) last year from the previous one.

The Lingang Special Area is ideal for hosting the value-added telecoms business opening-up trials because it has many computing power channels, industrial application scenarios, and communication infrastructure, according to Cao.

Lingang will strive to attract more foreign firms to join the trials, Cao said, adding that several leading multinational corporations are already negotiating to apply.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione