Guizhou province is one of China's most impoverished. But in recent years, it's taken advantage of its resources to lure top tech companies to build data centers. In fact, Guizhou was named the first National Big Data Comprehensive Experimental Zone. CGTN's Wei Lynn Tang has more from a demonstration area in the provincial capital.

Home to many of China's ethnic groups, Guizhou province has some of the nation's most beautiful mountains.

But - this inland region with its karst landscape was also once one of China's least developed and poorest.

Traditionally, the Southwestern province would sell electricity generated by its water, and transport it from western China to the country's east.

Coal, liquor and electricity - were its major economy drivers. But things have changed since.

WEI LYNN TANG GUI'AN NEW AREA, GUIZHOU PROVINCE "The turning point for Guizhou province came in 2014 - when it started developing its big data industry. Lands used to be barren here in the Gui'an New Area, but now, new data centers of major global technology firms are being constructed on these very lands.

WANG JUN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GUI'AN NEW DISTRICT BIG DATA INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT OFFICE "We chose data centers as quick entry and growth points to the big data industry. We turned our ample supply of water and power resources, cool climate, and stable geological structure INTO an industrial advantage. And through this, we transformed it into an economic advantage."

Three of China's major telecommunications operators have built data centers in the Gui'an New Area, the core area in the central Guizhou economic zone.

Meanwhile, Apple and Huawei are in the midst of building theirs. Tencent's 7 stars data center complex began trial operations in May of last year. The Chinese tech behemoth behind social media app WeChat will store its most important data here.

YAN JIN, DATA CENTER BRAND PROJECT MANAGER TENCENT HOLDINGS "We expect to store 50-thousand servers in these caves in the near future, and another 250-thousand within the industrial park, totalling 300-thousand servers in Gui'an in all. Presently, Tencent's data centers house about 1 million servers. So our size here in Gui'an is quite significant. Water, electricity, and land are ALL cheaper here. It's also safe from natural disasters."

These data centers, Wang says, lay a solid foundation for companies to expand their industrial development in the Gui'an New Area.

WANG JUN, DEPUTY DIRECTOR GUI'AN NEW DISTRICT BIG DATA INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT OFFICE "Last year, Huawei produced 30 million mobile phones here in the Gui'an New Area. The company also shifted its large-scale logistics projects here. It also built a university to train internal staff and high-level engineers. So as you can see, via data centers, we have also tapped into companies' other related businesses."

This "spillover" is also seen with the establishment of many start-ups in the area.

That said, Wang acknowledges that the recruitment of data analysis and artificial intelligence talents remain the biggest challenge. He says the Gui'an New Area has plans to advance on building a "livable" city covering aspects of training, employment and residence.

Overall, big data now accounts for over 20 percent of Guizhou province's economic growth. And this contribution is expected to be more significant in the future. WLT, CGTN, Guizhou province.