China is getting extra tough with its cybersecurity laws, so Apple has opened its first data center in the country to comply with the stricter regulations.

Apple set up a facility in conjunction with local company Guizhou-Cloud Big Data Industry Co. Ltd. The move is part of a planned $1 billion investment in the Guizhou province, according to Reuters.

"The addition of this data center will allow us to improve the speed and reliability of our products and services while also complying with newly passed regulations," Apple said in a prepared statement. "These regulations require cloud services be operated by Chinese companies so we're partnering with GCBD to offer iCloud."

The new rules are designed to provide better protections for Chinese citizens. The law requires that foreign companies doing business in China must have domestic centers, and must pass routine security protocols before the data leaves the country. Apple said that its security current standards are not impacted by those rules.

Apple actually began storing iCloud data in China in 2015, but the move to a local center will make access by Chinese users easier and faster.