North China's Shanxi province recently released a plan for the construction of new infrastructure during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 

The overall concept is to build an infrastructure system that is based on information networks, meets the needs of high-quality development and provides services for digital transformation, intelligent upgrading and integrated innovation. 

The plan proposes 19 key tasks, including the construction of information network infrastructure, the development of new technology infrastructure and the layout of intelligent computing infrastructure, and 65 specific measures concerning 5G communications networks, industrial internet platforms, digital government, internet hospitals and digital campus projects. 

The plan also proposes six strategic tasks, such as consolidating information infrastructure, upgrading innovation infrastructure, supporting integrated infrastructure and maintaining national network security. 

From the current year to 2025, Shanxi plans to implement a network infrastructure consolidation project, establish 120,000 5G base stations and a 5G wireless broadband city. The province's data center rack scales that are under construction or in use will reach 500,000 and four data center clusters will be formed. 

In addition, the province will accelerate the application of technological innovation, aiming to make breakthroughs in a number of national laboratories. It will build 10 national key laboratories and 200 provincial key laboratories, one national technology innovation center and 100 provincial technology innovation centers, as well as two national-level engineering research centers and 230 provincial-level engineering research centers. 

Moreover, it will speed up the construction and application of the industrial internet and energy internet. It will also promote the construction of 10 national demonstration, intelligent coal mines and 1,000 mining working platforms and develop new digital integration applications for digital government, smart transportation, digital campuses and internet hospitals. 

While developing the new infrastructure construction system, Shanxi will also coordinate the development of new infrastructure and network security. It will do so, by implementing enhanced network security guarantees and improving the stable and reliable operation of important new infrastructure.