A time tunnel effect is displayed at Guizhou province's big data demonstration center in Guiyang. [Photo/Xinhua]

2013 FOUNDATION

September: Zhongguancun Science Park, a demonstration base for technology innovation in Beijing, opens a branch in Guiyang.

October: China Telecom sets up an information park in Guian New Area.

December: China Unicom starts building a cloud computing base in Guian New Area, and China Mobile builds a data center.

2014 TAKE OFF

Feb 25: Guizhou issues a guideline on policies to accelerate the development of the big data industry.

May 1: Regulations on Information Infrastructure in Guizhou becomes operational.

May 28: Guizhou sets up a leading group for big data development.

Oct 15: The province develops a cloud platform, the first such service run by a provincial government.

2015 CRITICAL DEVELOPMENT

Feb 12: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology approves construction of the Big Data Industrial Cluster Zone in Guiyang and Guian New Area.

April 14: China's first big data exchange is set up in Guiyang.

July 15: The Ministry of Science and Technology approves Guizhou's plan to set up the Guiyang Big Data Industrial Technology Innovation Pilot Area.

Aug 31: The State Council issues Guidelines on Promoting Big Data Development.

Nov 11: The Sixth Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Guizhou Provincial Committee stresses that the big data industry will be a vital economic driver for the province.

File photo shows a visitor tours a display center of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Area in Southwest China's Guizhou province, May 22, 2019. [Photo/Xinhua]

2016 BOOM TIME

Jan 15: Guizhou issues Regulations for Promoting Big Data Development and Application in Guizhou. It is China's first local law on big data.

Feb 25: The National Development and Reform Commission, MIIT and the Cyberspace Administration of China approve construction of the National Big Data Comprehensive Pilot Area in Guizhou.

May 24: MIIT grants Guizhou the title of Data Center Demonstration Base in South China.

August: Guizhou issues a guideline giving big data a leading role in provincial development.

Dec 28: A big data platform for public resources transactions is launched in Guizhou.

2017 BROADER IMPLEMENTATION

Feb 3: Guizhou sets up the Big Data Development Administration.

Feb 28: Apple hands over iCloud operations in China to Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Development Co.

April: Guiyang issues the Data Sharing Regulation. July: Apple sets up an iCloud Data Center for Chinese users in Guizhou.

August: Huawei starts to build a data storage center in Guian New Area.

November: Guiyang says in a guideline that it plans to build the city into China's digital valley, the first time such a vision is made public.

December: The National Health Commission nominates Guizhou as the location for the second batch of pilot areas for medical big data centers.

Photo taken on Sept 6, 2019 shows a color Doppler ultrasound machine on display during an "Internet plus healthcare" exhibition of the fourth China-Arab States Expo in Yinchuan, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

2018 INTEGRATION

July 13: The Open Lab of the China Mobile 5G Joint Innovation Center starts operations in Guizhou.

Sept 11: Guizhou completes compilation of an evaluation system for the integration of big data and economic entities.

Sept 13: The National Technical Standard Innovation Base for big data is established in Guizhou.

2019 PROGRESS

Feb 25: Guizhou and Tsinghua University in Beijing set up an education base.

June: Guizhou establishes a provincial 5G development leading group.

August: MIIT approves building a special channel for internet data in Guiyang and Guian New Area.

Dec 10: Guizhou starts operations of its first server mirroring node, the first in West China.

2020 FRUITFUL YEAR

May 13: Guizhou holds a big data-themed meeting and underlines further promotion of the big data strategy as key to economic development.

Nov 16: Guizhou plans to boost the electronic information industry, supported by big data, and develop it into a pillar industry.