By Eamonn Ryan
At the Pan African Data Centre Conference 2026, Thiago Zhang, international sales engineer at Chinese thermal specialist BEEHE, set out a clear message: as AI data centres scale up, liquid cooling is no longer optional.
Thiago Zhang, international sales engineer at Chinese thermal specialist BEEHE.
© RACA Journal
BEEHE focuses on high-density server cooling, offering a full stack of liquid- and air-cooling solutions for data centres and other mission-critical environments. At the heart of its portfolio is the CDU (central distribution unit), which manages liquid flow between CPUs/GPUs and the external cooling loop. Around that, BEEHE supplies pipelines, load banks, testers, rear-door heat exchangers and chillers to deliver an end-to-end cooling package.
Zhang traces the company’s capabilities back to its origins in Suzhou as an air conditioner manufacturer, which later expanded into IT air cooling and then advanced liquid-to-liquid cooling.
“We can manufacture everything. If the client has any specific requirement, we can produce because we can do it from scratch. I think this is the main difference,” he said.
While BEEHE’s technology is deployed across data centres, hospitals and train stations in China, the company is still building its presence abroad in markets like Brazil, Taiwan, Japan, Europe – and now South Africa. The strategy is simple: start with visibility, then build local partnerships and reference sites.
“The first step is to participate in this fair, do contact exchange and meet some local companies, and try to achieve some local partners, especially for service,” Zhang explained.
He is candid about the challenges. One is perception: convincing operators that liquid cooling in data centres is safe and reliable. “The biggest challenge is to introduce the technology and do the first case. After the first case, maybe things will be more smooth.”
Another is standardisation. BEEHE currently follows European and US standards, using inch-based designs, but can adapt to local requirements as needed. Driving all of this is the explosive growth of AI workloads and high-density GPU servers, an area where BEEHE works closely with Nvidia and other ecosystem players.
“As AI is growing, we’re growing with it. For air cooling you have a limit, and now this limit is almost done. So the next step will be liquid,” Zhang said.
