Apple sets up China datacentre to meet new cybersecurity rules

[LowcyGier]

Apple said it was setting up the facility in the southern province of Guizhou with data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd.

Apple Inc said it is setting up its first datacentre in China, in partnership with a local internet services company, to comply with tougher cybersecurity laws introduced last month.

The US technology company said it will build the centre in the southern province of Guizhou with data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd (GCBD).

An Apple spokesman in Shanghai told Reuters the centre is part of a planned US$1bil (RM4.29bil) investment into the province.

"The addition of this datacentre will allow us to improve the speed and reliability of our products and services while also complying with newly passed regulations," Apple said in a statement to Reuters.

"These regulations require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies so we're partnering with GCBD to offer iCloud," it said, referring to its online data storage service.

Apple is the first foreign firm to announce amendments to its data storage for China following the implementation of a new cybersecurity law on June 1 that requires foreign firms to store data within the country.

Overseas business groups said the law's strict data surveillance and storage requirements are overly vague, burdening the firms with excessive compliance risks and threatening proprietary data.

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