China is new cloud frontier.

• Position: CLOUD - Brief article

Many in the cloud industry are banking on China. In December, Amazon made headlines by announcing that it will extend its cloud-computing services--Amazon Web Services (AWS)--to China in 2014. Xinhuanet.com reports that AWS signed a memorandum of understanding with Beijing and Ningxia for jointly constructing and developing cloud services for Chinese clients. The business office will be located in Beijing and the data center in Ningxia. The AWS China deal is part of Ningxia's plan to build a cloud base that eventually will be able to house 1 million servers.

Amazon's entry into the China market sparked an impressive flurry of activity. Only hours before Amazon publicized its plans, Allyun --the cloud-computing arm of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding--announced it was cutting its cloud service prices by as much as 35%. Shortly after Amazon's declaration, IBM said it would be teaming up with a local partner...