Hangzhou liquid-cooling forum highlights China’s focus on data-center thermal standards
DataNews Editorial Team
The second Liquid Cooling Technology Innovation and Development Forum was held in Hangzhou on 21–23 October, bringing together more than 6,000 participants online and in person. The event released 18 liquid-cooling technology outcomes and two white papers covering cooling media for computing centers and the full lifecycle of data-center liquid cooling.
- More than 6,000 participants joined the Hangzhou forum online and in person.
- The event released 18 liquid-cooling technology outcomes and two sector-specific white papers.
- The agenda linked liquid-cooled data centers with AI-chip thermal management, standardisation and heat recovery.
- The discussion suggests increasing attention to integrated, lifecycle-based liquid-cooling deployment, rather than individual components alone.
The Chinese Association of Refrigeration and China Mobile Communications Group Design Institute Co., Ltd. convened the second Liquid Cooling Technology Innovation and Development Forum in Hangzhou, with support from the Zhejiang Refrigeration Society.
More than 6,000 representatives from universities, research institutes, design organisations, data-center developers, operators and equipment vendors attended through online and in-person formats. The main programme included 14 speakers from universities, operators, internet companies, chip suppliers and refrigeration-equipment companies.
The agenda covered liquid-cooled data centers, thermal management for high-performance AI chips, liquid-cooling system integration and standardisation, heat recovery and emerging cooling technologies. During the forum, the Chinese Association of Refrigeration released 18 liquid-cooling technology outcomes through the China Association for Science and Technology’s digital platform.
Two industry white papers were also issued: one on liquid cooling media for computing centers and another on full-lifecycle considerations for data-center liquid cooling. Participants additionally visited the China Mobile Zhejiang Information and Communication Industry Park.
For the data-center sector, the event indicates a growing emphasis on interoperability, deployment practices and lifecycle management across liquid-cooling systems. This could be relevant as AI workloads increase thermal density and operators assess cooling architectures alongside PUE reduction, heat reuse and renewable-energy integration. The forum itself, however, did not provide evidence of deployed data-center capacity, commercial contracts, investment commitments or measured PUE improvements.
The forum points to a potential shift in China’s data-center liquid-cooling market from discrete components and pilots toward system integration, engineering deployment and standardisation. Its focus on AI-chip thermal management, PUE, heat recovery and renewable-energy integration could support demand for integrated cooling systems, design services and lifecycle support rather than standalone cooling equipment.
- — / October 26, 2026 · ChineseSource →
This article was prepared by the DataNews editorial team based on the sources listed above.