China reports roughly 21.1 quadrillion token calls in 2025

FUZHOU, April 29 (Xinhua) -- China's call volume of tokens totaled about 21.1 quadrillion last year, a survey report on national data resources showed on Wednesday.

The report was released by the National Data Administration at the 9th Digital China Summit, convening in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province, on April 29 and 30.

By late March this year, China's average daily token calls had exceeded 140 trillion, which represented a surge of more than 1,000-fold compared with the 100 billion recorded at the beginning of 2024, and amounted to an increase of over 40 percent compared with the 100 trillion registered at the end of 2025, separate data from the administration revealed.

Tokens, the basic units that AI models use to process information, are measurable, priceable and tradable, the administration noted. Experts have described token call volume as a barometer of industry development and a key indicator of AI adoption.