Token English name confirmed: Token

(Note: "词元" is the Chinese translation/localization name for "Token" in cryptocurrency/blockchain contexts. If you're looking for how to refer to this in English, it remains "Token" - the same English term is used in both English and Chinese contexts for blockchain purposes.)

In the wave of AI enthusiasm, a concept is gradually gaining prominence—Token. It is the standard for evaluating the call volume of large models on leaderboards and also the billing unit for packages sold by large model providers.

At the China Development High-Level Forum 2026 Annual Meeting, Liu Liehong, Director of the National Data Bureau, stated that Token “word units” are not only the value anchor in the era of intelligence but also the “settlement unit” connecting technological supply and commercial demand, providing a measurable possibility for the implementation of business models; from an official perspective, Token is translated as “word units.”

China’s daily Token call volume exceeds 140 trillion, a growth of over 40% since the end of 2025

Liu Liehong introduced that by the end of 2025, more than 100,000 high-quality datasets had been established nationwide. By March this year, China’s daily Token (word unit) call volume exceeded 140 trillion, more than 1,000 times the 100 billion at the beginning of 2024, and in just three months, it grew by over 40% compared to the 100 trillion at the end of 2025.

Liu Liehong stated that the massive increase in daily Token call volume fully indicates that China’s artificial intelligence development has entered a rapid growth stage. Application scenarios are continuously deepening, from conversational agents to decision-making and execution, the competitiveness of China’s AI industry has significantly strengthened. It also marks a substantial increase in data supply, with the value of data elements constantly being released. The empowerment of data elements to AI innovation and development has entered a virtuous interactive stage.

According to reports, next, the National Data Bureau will take scene demands as the driving force, accelerate pilot and trial work, and create high-quality datasets that are technically feasible, practical, convenient, and quality-assured, to achieve both quantitative and qualitative improvements in supply.

What is a Token?

In the world of AI, a Token is the smallest unit of information processing by a model. Whether it’s a user’s question or a piece of code generated by AI, everything must be broken down into Tokens to perform calculations. Because of this, Token call volume has become a key indicator of AI model activity and industry value. The higher the Token call volume, the more the model is used, and the greater the actual value created.

Source: Shangguan News

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