Against the backdrop of the energy consumption crisis induced by the vigorous development of artificial intelligence and the insufficient expansion of traditional power grids that fail to meet the stringent power stability requirements of data centers, a systematic review of global practical pathways for energy-computing synergy is conducted in this paper, and a tailored development pathway applicable to China is explored. A multi-dimensional analytical framework is established through cross-national case comparison and policy and literature analyses. The differentiated development modes of three typical regions, namely the United States, the European Union, and China, are thoroughly investigated, including strategies for market-driven operation, brownfield redevelopment, and guidance from national strategy. In-depth analyses are further performed from the perspectives of technological evolution and core developmental challenges. It is found that diversified technologies and market-oriented mechanisms have been adopted in the United States, and a brownfield redevelopment mode based on industrial heritage resources has been successfully practiced in the European Union. In China, direct green power supply and integrated energy-computing synergy has been realized relying on the “East Data, West Computing” initiative. Meanwhile, major bottlenecks restricting industrial development are identified: the power supply instability caused by the intermittency of renewable energy, the difficulty of balancing economic benefits resulting from high costs of upfront project investment, and the deficiency of unified standards and system interoperability. Three strategic suggestions are proposed for the high-quality development of China’s energy-computing synergy: First, the top-level institutional design should be strengthened, and power plant direct connection modes should be incorporated into the coordinated planning of the energy industry and digital economy; Second, market-oriented mechanisms should be innovated to connect green power trading with carbon accounting systems, enabling data centers to be incorporated into ancillary service markets as adjustable power loads; Third, core technical bottlenecks should be overcome by prioritizing the research and development of hydrogen gas turbines and immersion liquid cooling technologies. It is concluded that integrated innovation in policies, technologies and business modes should be promoted in China, so as to provide a viable Chinese solution for global energy-computing collaborative development.