China sets requirements for government procurement of data center equipment, services

On April 10, 2023, China’s Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Ecology and Environment and Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published an experimental, “Green Data Center” standard that defines requirements for government procurement of equipment and services for data centers. It will come into effect July 1, 2023.

The standard includes specific criteria for data center equipment, such as power usage effectiveness (PUE) criteria, as well as requirements for data center management services.

Scope of the standard

Government agencies and public organizations at any level of government must follow the standard when they purchase equipment, management services, etc. for data centers using government funds.

Basic requirements

For equipment and services for data centers, high-efficiency options — such as new energy, liquid cooling, decentralized power supplies and modular computer rooms — should be prioritized.

Requirements for data center management services

• The PUE of a data center must be less than 1.4 from June 2023, and less than 1.3 from 2025 onward.
• The ratio between annual water consumption and annual power consumption of IT equipment must be less than 2.5 L/kWh.
• Renewable energy must make up a gradually-increasing percentage of total energy consumption of a data center as specified in the table below.

General requirements

• Plastic components heavier than 25 g must only contain a single type of polymer or copolymer, and must not contain metal components that cannot be separated from plastic.
• The amount of mercury in a display backlight must be less than 3 mg.
• Fluorine content in electrical wires and cables must be less than 0.1%.
• Plasticizers containing DIBP (CAS Number 84-69-5), DEHP (CAS Number 117-81-7), BBP (CAS Number 85-68-7) or DBP (CAS Number 84-74-2) must not be used in plastic components heavier than 25 g, except for plastic components of electrical wires and cables.
• Batteries in products must meet the following limits on heavy metal concentrations — mercury: less than 1 mg/kg, cadmium: less than 20 mg/kg, and lead: less than 40 mg/kg.
• IT equipment of data centers must meet the national regulations on the concentrations of key controlled new pollutants.

The standard also sets out specific, detailed requirements for different types of equipment, including servers and displays (see Section 6.2 of the standard).

The full text of the standard (in Chinese) is available at
http://www.ccgp.gov.cn/zcfg/mof/202304/t20230410_19680193.htm