BERLIN, March 17 (Xinhua) -- The German government plans a massive expansion of data center capacity to avoid falling behind in the global technology race, a minister said on Tuesday.

Germany's data center performance is to be at least doubled by 2030 compared to 2025 levels, while capacities for artificial intelligence (AI) are to be increased at least fourfold, according to Karsten Wildberger, the country's minister for digital affairs and state modernization.

"When you look at this on an international scale, we certainly have a lot of catching up to do," Wildberger said.

The targets are outlined in a policy paper from the ministry for digital affairs and state modernization, which is set to be adopted by the cabinet on Wednesday, according to German news agency dpa. "With this, we want to stay in the race to continue leading in Europe, but also to remain very attractive internationally," Wildberger said.

The ministry has also drawn up a package of 28 measures aimed at establishing Germany as a leading, sovereign data hub in Europe.

Wildberger said the measures included levying business taxes on data centers where they are located rather than where the operating company is registered, streamlining planning and approval processes for new facilities, and moving data centers towards full use of renewable energy.

The strategy also seeks to reduce dependence on non-European hyperscalers, with new capacity to be built preferably by German and European companies. A flagship project is support for the construction of at least one commercial "AI gigafactory" in Germany through a public-private consortium under European leadership. ■