INTERNATIONAL Business Machines plans to invest heavily in cloud computing in China by working with local partners and establishing an eco-system for the industry, the Big Blue said yesterday in Shanghai.

IBM's cloud computing services, which include storage, database and integration through online cloud servers, jumped 80 percent annually last year compared with the previous year. The services are set to generate a US$7 billion revenue globally from the cloud computing business.

The cloud computing services include storage, database and integration through online cloud servers, which provides a less expensive and reliable way for people and enterprises to store and share data.

"China is the emerging market of the new technology thanks to a rich database and developed information technology infrastructure in Internet, telecommunications and finance," said Wang Shenghang, IBM's cloud business unit director for China.

IBM has cooperated with China Mobile and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province to provide both private cloud and public cloud services, which require a license in China.

Last month Microsoft Corp said it has become the first multinational firm to directly provide public cloud computing services in China. Unlike Microsoft, IBM offers public cloud services via licensed partners, like China Mobile.

Baidu, Alibaba and China Unicom are also providing cloud computing services.

Cloud computing will create 4 million new jobs in China by 2015, according to International Data Corp.