GDS Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: GDS) said that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent (LoI) with State Development Investment Corp. (SDIC, a state-owned investment holding company in China), China Unicom, and China Telecom to jointly develop data centers in select Chinese markets. Details of the cooperation arrangements proposed by the LoI are subject to further definitive legal agreement by the four parties.
Digital economic growth in China is resulting in demand for large-scale data center infrastructure and services in markets outside its existing core markets, says Chinese data center developer and operator GDS. The collaboration will begin with an initial pilot data center project in the Tianjin market.
Held in Beijing, the signing ceremony was attended by SDIC chairman Huisheng Wang, China Unicom chairman Xiaochu Wang, China Telecom chairman Jie Yang, and GDS chairman William Huang.
"We are honored to participate in this LoI with these leading state-owned enterprises," said William Huang, GDS chairman and chief executive officer. "As the only private sector company in the consortium, our participation evidences the expertise and market leadership we've established over our 17-year operating history. This partnership combines GDS strengths in data center design, construction, operations and customer service with the complementary capabilities, resources and relationships of the other parties. As we realize synergies together, we look forward to working alongside our distinguished partners to explore potential opportunities within the government and state-owned enterprise segments and to further strengthen our brand and market leading position."
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