2018–2023 China Cloud Computing Market Outlook and Investment Opportunities Report

According to China Business Intelligence Network, cloud computing is a service model that provides access via networks to a scalable, elastic pool of shared physical or virtual resources. Users can purchase these services on demand through self‑service and simple management. With very little administrative effort or interaction with the provider, users can quickly expand or release computing resources. Depending on the type of resources provided, cloud services are typically classified as Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).

China’s cloud computing market is currently in a phase of rapid growth. The continuous maturation of technologies such as containers and microservices is driving transformation in cloud computing. As cloud use cases expand, adoption has penetrated deeply into traditional sectors such as government, finance, manufacturing, transportation, and logistics. Overall, the size of China’s cloud market is still smaller than that of the global market, and there remains a noticeable gap. Data shows that in 2017 the overall size of China’s cloud computing market reached RMB 69.1 billion (≈ USD 10+ billion), a year‑on‑year increase of 34.3%.

The public cloud market is growing rapidly, with IaaS taking the largest share

In the public cloud segment, China’s market has grown rapidly since 2014. From 2014 to 2017, the market size more than quadrupled, with a very high compound annual growth rate. As cloud computing becomes more deeply embedded in vertical and industry‑specific scenarios, China’s cloud market is expected to maintain strong growth. Projections suggest that by 2020 the market size could exceed RMB 60 billion in public cloud alone.

Data source: Compiled by China Commercial Industry Research Institute.

Within the public cloud sub‑segments, data shows that in 2017 the IaaS market reached RMB 14.9 billion, SaaS RMB 10.5 billion, and PaaS RMB 1.2 billion. Compared with previous years, it is clear that IaaS is the fastest‑growing service type in the public cloud market. With more IaaS providers entering the space, the IaaS market is expected to continue expanding rapidly.

Data source: Compiled by China Commercial Industry Research Institute.

Private cloud market exceeds RMB 40 billion, with hardware over 70% of spend

A private cloud is built for the exclusive use of a single customer and therefore provides the highest level of control over data, security, and service quality. By building private cloud platforms, enterprises can tailor resource allocation to the characteristics of different business applications. In 2017, China’s private cloud market reached RMB 42.98 billion, up 23.4% year‑on‑year. As security, reliability, and maturity continue to improve, the private cloud market is expected to grow further.

Data source: Compiled by China Commercial Industry Research Institute.

In terms of market structure, hardware accounted for about 71% of the private cloud market in 2017, software 16%, and services 13%. As hardware becomes more standardized and software becomes more capable of operating in heterogeneous environments, spending on software and services is expected to continue rising.

Data and analysis in this section are based on the report “2018–2023 China Cloud Computing Industry Market Prospects and Investment Opportunities Research” by China Commercial Industry Research Institute.