Tech giant Apple is partnering with local ISP companies in China to set up its first data center in the Asian powerhouse. This action is being taken so that the company would comply with tougher cyber-security laws introduced last month. The data center, Apple said, will be built in the southern province of Guizhou with data management firm Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co Ltd (GCBD).
Reuters reported that the center is part of a planned $1 billion investment into the province.
“The addition of this data center 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.
According to Reuters, Apple is the first foreign firm to announce amendments to its data storage for China following the implementation of a new cyber-security law on June 1 that requires foreign firms to store data within the country. Chinese authorities say the law is not designed to put foreign firms at a disadvantage and was drafted in reaction to the threat of cyber attacks and terrorism.
Apple also said it had strong data privacy and security protections in place.
“No backdoors will be created into any of our systems,” it said.