Public cloud giant Amazon Web Services Inc. is stepping up its presence in China with the addition of a second region in the country, bringing its total up to 17 regions globally.

Amazon said late Monday that it’s partnering with the cloud services company Ningxia Western Cloud Data Technology Co. Ltd., which will manage and operate the new region in compliance with Chinese regulations that dictate western technology firms must work with a local partner. The new region, called the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, is the second in the country to open after the AWS China (Beijing) Region, which is operated by another local firm, Beijing Sinnet Technology Co.

The move is a sign that AWS has big hopes for the Chinese market, where Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. holds a formidable lead. Some trade observers say the Chinese government has no intention of allowing foreign companies to make big strides in various technologies such as cloud computing.

But AWS still believes it has a significant opportunity to provide cloud services. “We have a lot of growth ahead of us in Beijing and in China,” AWS Chief Executive Andy Jassy (pictured) said in a recent interview with SiliconANGLE.

Amazon said the new region will offer two availability zones to begin with. AWS regions consist of availability zones that refer to its technology infrastructure in separate and distinct geographic locations. The availability zones have enough distance between them to reduce the risk of a single event impacting availability significantly, yet they’re also located near enough for business continuity applications that require rapid failover.

The announcement means that Amazon now offers a total of 46 availability zones across 17 regions globally. The company is also planning to add 15 more availability zones across five new regions, which are due to open in Bahrain, France, Hong Kong, Sweden and the U.S.

The involvement of local partner NWCD is necessary because, as Amazon explained last month after selling some of its infrastructure assets to Beijing Sinnet, Chinese law “forbids non-Chinese companies from owning or operating certain technology for the provision of cloud services.”

As a result, Amazon is forced to operate a different business model in China from what it does in the U.S. With its Chinese partnerships, Amazon provides the “technology, guidance and expertise,” while NWCD and Beijing Sinnet are the ones who actually operate and provide its cloud services to local customers. In addition, Chinese customers also have to sign contracts with Amazon’s local partners rather than AWS itself.

“Together with our partner NWCD, and with deep appreciation of the support we’ve received from the Zhongwei municipal government and Ningxia government, we’re excited to announce the launch of the AWS China (Ningxia) Region, operated by NWCD,” Jassy said in a statement. “The second AWS Region in China is part of AWS’s ongoing commitment to offer best-in-class cloud technologies to Chinese customers.”

The new region will also help Amazon to up its game in one of the few cloud computing markets it doesn’t dominate, said Holger Mueller, vice president and principal analyst at Constellation Research Inc. Although Amazon is the clear leader in public cloud services in global terms, the company currently plays second fiddle in China to Alibaba Cloud, according to most estimates.

“In order to become a serious player in China, all infrastructure-as-a-service players need a second region, and AWS is no exception,” Mueller said. “The NWCD relationship is unique for AWS, but it seems not to slow down Amazon. It’s good for Chinese enterprises to see more competition from the North American infrastructure-as-a-service providers.”

Image: Robert Hof/SiliconANGLE