SHANGHAI plans to invest 200 million yuan (US$29.85 million) within five years on cloud computing, including opening a new industrial base yesterday, to develop the new Internet-based sharing technology and applications.

The local government's investment in cloud computing, part of a national strategy, has attracted industry giants, including Microsoft Inc, Intel Corp, Baidu.com Inc and EMC Corp, to set up related facilities in Shanghai.

The new industrial base in Yangpu District will attract 300 firms.

Output of the local cloud computing sector will hit US$15 billion by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period in 2015. Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, where shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, like an electricity grid.

Google Inc and Apple Inc provide cloud computing applications, which represent the industry trend and bring considerable income to the companies.

"There is great market potential for cloud computing because it greatly simplifies IT. It's a revolution in the industry," said Tian Suning, founder chairman of China Broadband Capital.

Besides the 200 million yuan capital provided by Yangpu, investment firm CBC also created a fund of 100 million yuan to support the local cloud computing market.

The cloud computing technology is expected to boost the city's information service sector, whose revenue jumped 19.2 percent year on year to 187.9 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year.

Several firms, including China's largest search engine provider Baidu, storage giant EMC and Internet security firm Kaspersky, will set up facilities in the new base. Microsoft also said recently it would set up a cloud computing center in Shanghai.