BEIJING, Aug 29 (Reuters) - China has invested over 43.5

billion yuan ($6.12 billion) in a nationwide project to build

computing data centers over the past years, a senior government

official said on Thursday, amid tech export restrictions from

the United States.

Liu Liehong, head of China's National Data Bureau, disclosed

the figure, which is current as of end-June, at an industry

conference in the southwestern city of Guiyang, state news

agency Xinhua reported.

Beijing officially launched the initiative, dubbed "Eastern

Data, Western Computing", in early 2022 as part of President Xi

Jinping's push to build a "digital China".

China's massive investment in computing comes as it faces

increasing restrictions from the United States, which has

limited exports of some advanced computing products, including

those from industry leader Nvidia ( NVDA ) in recent years.

In response, China has been ramping up efforts to develop

its own advanced computing capabilities.

The "Eastern Data, Western Computing" project includes plans

to construct eight major data center hubs, primarily located in

the western regions. This strategy aims to utilize the abundant

energy resources in the west and transfer computing power to the

economic hubs along the coast.

Beyond direct government spending, Beijing has also sought

to attract other types of investment, including private capital.

The eight data center hubs have drawn more than 200 billion

yuan in total investment, Liu said.

He added that the project has installed over 1.95 million

server racks, with about 63% of them currently in use.

($1 = 7.1122 Chinese yuan renminbi)