VNET started as AsiaCloud in 1999 and moved to the data center business with its first self-developed data center opening in 2010. The firm listed (as 21Vianet) on the Nasdaq in April 2011, subsequently changing its name to VNET Group in 2021. It originally focused on providing data center services such as colocation and cloud services to retail clients in China, but added hyperscale customers in 2019 and now counts large Chinese hyperscalers such as Alibaba Cloud, Tencent Cloud, and Huawei Cloud as customers. At end-September 2023 it had 84,608 self-built cabinets with the majority in Beijing, Shanghai, and the Greater Bay area. It also operated partnered data centers with around 4,314 cabinets and had 476 MW of wholesale capacity contracted or under a memorandum of understanding.