In China, big data is big business. And at an industry summit in Guiyang, the country’s decision-makers and industry leaders are hoping to make it even bigger. Pony Ma, founder and CEO of China’s Internet giant Tencent, wasted no time in introducing the company’s big data storage center.

“Tencent’s data center now stores 1,000 petabyte of data. That’s more than 15 thousand of the world’s largest libraries added together. And the amount of data is increasing at a rate of 500 terabytes a day,” Pony Ma, founder & CEO of Tencent Inc, said.

Data is generating very quickly indeed. China now has nearly 700 million Internet users, most of whom use their mobile phones to go online.

Companies and the government all have a keen interest in harnessing and analyzing the massive amounts of data that Internet users are producing. The burgeoning market is attracting foreign companies as well.

In this exhibition hall, a German software company is showcasing their latest big data products. Thought a sensor-mounted vest, this model vehicle car can gather data on road conditions as well as the driver’s driving habits.

“In this period, we can see the driver has exceeded the speed limit five times, and made two sharp brakes and two sharp turns. By monitoring the data, we can better guarantee road safety,” Sam Li, Global vice-president & China GM of SAP China, said.

The expo is held in the southwest city of Guiyang, a relatively less developed Chinese city. There is a considerable market for international cooperation, thanks to the city’s keen interest in the big data industry and the ample room for development.

The sheer number of China’s Internet users, and the amount of data generated have made it one of the most exciting markets for the industry. The market size is expanding annually at a rate of 40 percent. But even so, security and privacy remain major concerns. These are also the global challenges that the expo is hoping to address.