China’s daily AI token calls reach 140 trillion, up more than 1,000-fold since early 2024

China’s daily AI token calls reached 140 trillion by March 2026, up more than 1,000-fold from roughly 100 billion in early 2024, according to figures cited by China Academy of Information and Communications Technology deputy head Wei Liang in a CCTV Finance program preview published on July 18.

Tokens are used to measure the amount of information processed by AI models and calculate usage costs. The report linked the increase to wider adoption of AI agents, in which a single user instruction can trigger multiple model calls and create demand for token pricing and scheduling systems. [IT Home, in Chinese]