Chinese cloud companies are quietly gaining momentum in the battle with their U.S. counterparts for the Middle East’s digital infrastructure.
在与美国云服务商的竞争中，中国云企业正悄然占据中东数字基础设施市场的主导地位。
Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Oracle spent years building regional tech ecosystems with data centers across the Gulf. In recent years, however, Huawei and Alibaba have outmaneuvered them by aligning more closely with local government priorities. Besides offering competitive pricing, Chinese cloud giants have entered into strategic partnerships and tailored their solutions to address specific security and sovereignty concerns.
亚马逊、微软、谷歌和甲骨文曾耗费多年在波斯湾地区构建技术生态系统，并建立了多个数据中心。但近年来，华为和阿里巴巴通过更精准地对接当地政府的发展重点，成功实现了弯道超车。这些中国云服务巨头不仅提供更具竞争力的价格，还通过建立战略合作关系、量身定制解决方案等方式，有效应对了当地对数据安全和国家主权的特殊关切。
Chinese providers are investing in infrastructure and skills development and expanding technology partnerships.
中国企业正加大基础设施投入、培养技术人才，并积极拓展科技合作伙伴关系。
“Chinese providers are investing in infrastructure and skills development and expanding technology partnerships, gradually gaining market traction in the cloud space,” Manish Ranjan, software and cloud research director for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa at market research company IDC, told Rest of World. “Despite the established dominance of AWS [Amazon Web Services], Azure, and Google Cloud in the Middle East, Chinese providers like Huawei and Alibaba are making a significant presence in the region.”
"中国科技企业正持续投入基础设施建设和人才培育，深化技术合作，逐步在云计算领域打开市场局面，"市场研究机构 IDC 欧洲、中东及非洲地区软件与云计算研究总监马尼什·兰詹向《Rest of World》表示。"尽管亚马逊云服务(AWS)、微软 Azure 和谷歌云在中东市场占据绝对优势，但华为、阿里巴巴等中国云服务商正在该地区快速建立重要影响力。"
U.S. cloud providers established their presence in the Middle East early, with Amazon Web Services opening its first regional data center in Bahrain in 2019, followed by a data center in the United Arab Emirates in 2022. Microsoft started its first Middle Eastern cloud regions in Abu Dhabi and Dubai in June 2019, and Google Cloud entered Saudi Arabia’s Dammam region in 2023.
美国云服务商在中东的布局起步较早——亚马逊云科技 2019 年在巴林建成首个区域数据中心，2022 年又在阿联酋落成新设施；微软于 2019 年 6 月在阿布扎比和迪拜同步开通中东首批云服务节点；谷歌云则于 2023 年进驻沙特阿拉伯达曼地区。
Oracle has two cloud regions in the UAE and two in Saudi Arabia, with plans for a third in Neom, a planned project set to transform the Red Sea coast of northwest Saudi Arabia into a futuristic city.
甲骨文公司在阿联酋设有两个云服务区域，在沙特阿拉伯也有两个，并计划在 Neom 新建第三个区域。Neom 是一个规划中的大型项目，旨在将沙特西北部的红海沿岸打造成未来之城。
Despite this established footprint, Chinese cloud providers such as Huawei formed strong partnerships with regional telecommunications companies including STC, E& Enterprise, du, Zain, OmanTel, and Ooredoo, driving developments in cloud, artificial intelligence, 5G, and smart city technologies, Ranjan said.
兰詹表示，尽管市场根基稳固，华为等中国云服务商仍与沙特电信(STC)、阿联酋电信企业(E& Enterprise)、阿联酋 du、科威特 Zain、阿曼电信(OmanTel)和卡塔尔 Ooredoo 等中东电信巨头建立了深度合作，共同推进云计算、人工智能、5G 及智慧城市技术的创新发展。
“At Huawei Cloud, we are committed to enabling businesses across Saudi Arabia to thrive in the digital economy by providing world-class cloud technologies,” Alan Qi, president of Huawei Cloud, Middle East and Central Asia, said during the 2025 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in March. “This partnership with Zain strengthens our ability to support organizations with scalable, secure, and intelligent cloud solutions.” Huawei did not respond to a request for comment from Rest of World.
"2025 年 3 月，华为云中东及中亚区总裁 Alan Qi 在巴塞罗那世界移动通信大会上表示：“华为云始终致力于通过全球领先的云技术，助力沙特企业把握数字经济机遇。此次与 Zain 达成合作，将进一步提升我们为客户提供弹性扩展、安全可靠、智能高效的云解决方案的能力。”针对 Rest of World 的采访请求，华为方面未予置评。"
Saudi Arabia is currently executing a cloud-first policy that mandates government offices to use internet-based computer services before buying their own equipment for new projects. Huawei has established four cloud facilities, including a data center in Saudi Arabia with ultralow latency capabilities, which allows information to travel between computers with almost no delay.
沙特阿拉伯正在推行"云优先"政策，要求政府部门在启动新项目时优先采用基于互联网的云计算服务，而非直接采购硬件设备。华为已在当地建设了四座云基础设施，其中包括一个具备超低延时特性的数据中心，可实现近乎零延迟的计算机间数据传输。
Last month, the company announced a partnership with telecom firm Zain KSA to upgrade its networks in Saudi Arabia. In just two years, Huawei Cloud’s Riyadh hub has onboarded more than 1,000 customers, including Saudi government agencies and major financial institutions, according to Huawei.
In February, during one of the biggest tech events in the region, Tencent announced its entry into the Middle East’s cloud business. The company said it will invest more than $150 million in the kingdom over the next few years.
Similarly, Alibaba Cloud expanded strategically by opening data centers in the UAE in 2022 and Saudi Arabia last year. It entered the Saudi market by setting up a venture with STC. The Saudi Cloud Computing Company will support the kingdom’s Vision 2030 goals, under which the government hopes to diversify the economy away from oil dependency.
They have also formed strategic partnerships with government entities in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia.
“They have also formed strategic partnerships with government entities in the region, especially in Saudi Arabia, to ensure compliance with local data laws,” Ranjan said, noting how Chinese providers have turned regulatory requirements into competitive advantages.
A key differentiator has been the Chinese providers’ approach to artificial intelligence. While U.S. companies have been slow to adopt AI solutions in the region, Chinese providers have aggressively embedded AI into their offerings at a time when Gulf nations are pursuing AI leadership.
During the Huawei Global AI Summit last year, Huawei Cloud’s chief technology officer, Bruno Zhang, showed how its AI could cut Saudi hospital diagnostic times by 40% using localized Arabic language models — a tangible benefit that theoretical AI platforms from Western providers couldn’t match.
The rise of Chinese cloud providers in the Middle East has been bolstered by China’s Digital Silk Road initiative, which provides diplomatic cover and positions these companies as trusted digital transformation partners. While U.S. companies face increased scrutiny over data governance concerns, Chinese firms benefit from high-level agreements that streamline their market entry and operations.
For Middle Eastern CIOs, Chinese cloud providers offer support and a better understanding of regional business contexts, making them increasingly attractive options for achieving data sovereignty, cost optimization, and vendor diversification. Chinese vendors offer bundled deals, which are significant factors in total cost of ownership calculations, Ranjan said.
Even with the shift to cloud over the past few years, there are still certain types of workload or industry-specific activities that are best and cheapest to run in a more traditional data center, according to Kenneth Lindegaard, CIO at UAE-based AI-powered space technology company Space42. The hybrid approach plays directly to the strengths of Chinese providers, who recognized this market preference early and built their regional strategy around it.
“The cloud market is very competitive, and there are many players,” Lindegaard told Rest of World. “Regulations like data localization, etc., are risky because there might not be a business case for all of them to build cloud data centers in all countries in the region.”
The battle for cloud dominance in the region illustrates a broader truth about emerging technology markets: Having the best technology isn’t enough. Winning requires aligning with national priorities — a reality Chinese cloud providers have embraced, even as their U.S. counterparts focus on technological superiority.
“The Chinese companies are showing that success in the Middle East depends as much on trust and cooperation as it does on computing power,” Luis Bravo, senior research analyst at Texas-based data center Hawk, told Rest of World.
