China Daily Token Calls Near 175 Trillion in June 2026, Officials Propose Response
China's daily token calls approached 175 trillion in June 2026, making it the world's largest user of token-based intelligent services, according to National Data Administration monitoring data. The surge, driven by the 'AI+' initiative and the wider deployment of intelligent agents, has spawned a token economy featuring usage-based billing. Officials now propose strengthening computing power construction and establishing pricing rules to address infrastructure pressure, data security risks and pricing transparency concerns.
Token is the smallest semantic unit used by artificial intelligence models to process text, images, audio, video and other information. With the implementation of the 'AI+' initiative, the expansion of generative artificial intelligence application scenarios, and the large-scale deployment of intelligent agents, token call volume has grown explosively. National Data Administration monitoring data show that in June 2026, China's daily token calls approached 175 trillion, making it the world's largest country by token call volume. The new token economy centered on token calling, distribution and settlement has drawn widespread attention. Tokens are no longer merely a technical concept in the field of natural language processing, but have become a metering tool and value carrier for intelligent services. The rise of the token economy marks the entry of intelligent services into a refined consumption stage with usage-based billing, changing the supply model and organizational form of intelligent services.