China wants to ‘wipe out’ at least 50 million imported computers

China plans to replace 50 million imported personal computers at central organizations and state-owned enterprises with domestic ones – Photo (Illustration): BLOOMBERG

According to Bloomberg, this remarkable information represents one of Beijing’s most drastic moves to date in its strategy to remove foreign technology from the most sensitive and important agencies and organizations.

Bloomberg cited separate sources as saying that after the long holiday period in late April and early May, employees at the aforementioned units were asked to return their personal computers in exchange for internal devices. other land.

These unnamed sources said the government plans to replace at least 50 million personal computers currently in use at central government agencies alone.

In fact, for a decade, the Chinese government has implemented a program to replace imported technology with domestically developed products to reduce dependence on geopolitical rivals like the US for essential goods. such as semiconductors, servers and phones.

The US sanctions against the world’s largest Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei over the years are certainly one of the reasons behind this.

According to Bloomberg, the decision to replace foreign computers is expected to strongly affect sales of companies such as HP or Dell. But in the opposite direction, it will help Chinese computer, software and server brands such as Levono, Kingsoft, Inspur … “upgrade” quickly.

China’s decision to “change the blood” of all personal computers also reflects their concerns about information security. On the other hand, it shows Beijing’s more confidence in its ability to develop hardware domestically.

According to Bloomberg, after a 2-year replacement schedule at the central level, the computer replacement program will continue to expand to provincial governments.

China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Information Office of the State Council of China have not yet responded to Bloomberg on the matter.