Published : 06/07/2026
With the advent of the AI era, every large model and intelligent agent task consumes tokens, and tokens are becoming the most important digital commodity.
As the world's factory, China once exported shirts and now exports electric cars. Will it export tokens in the future?
In other words, can China evolve from being the world's factory in the physical world to become the intelligent factory in the digital world?
China's AI: from model export to token export
With the development of China's AI, domestically produced large models are beginning to become the choice for many overseas users.
According to the world's largest AI model API aggregation platform, OpenRouter's latest data, from 15 to 21 June, the total call volume for global AI large models was 46.7 trillion tokens, of which the call volume for Chinese large models was 18.81 trillion, accounting for over 40%, and has steadily remained in the top spot globally for eight consecutive weeks.
While this is certainly exciting, it is important to note that large model call volume is not equivalent to token call volume.
What OpenRouter shows are the large model service providers, many of whose physical data centres are deployed overseas.
What overseas users are actually using are large model services deployed on overseas cloud platforms. This means these calls are not flowing back to domestic data centres; in essence, it is still "model export", not "Token export".
So-called "token export" refers to when overseas users send requests, the data is transmitted to data centres in China via submarine fibre-optic cables, and after inference is completed, the results are sent back.
If "model export" is moving the production line overseas, then "token export" is sending global orders back to China for production and then exporting the results digitally.
The significance of this model lies in the fact that, infrastructure such as electricity and computing power does not need to move across borders, but can be transformed into high-value-added digital services, like invisible commodities, to participate in international trade in the form of Tokens.
From an economic perspective, the cost of one kilowatt-hour of electricity is about 0.5 RMB. When converted into tokens for export via large models, its value can rise to about 11 RMB, a leap of more than 20 times.
Shantou: "data processing on order"
The flow of computing power or tokens inevitably involves a large flow of data. As everyone knows, cross-border data transfer is not simple and involves various aspects of regulation.
Therefore, to enable token export, the first problem to solve is the compliance of cross-border data.
As one of China's first special economic zones to open up, Shantou is actively making attempts.
The Shantou Overseas Chinese Economic and Cultural Cooperation Experimental Zone was approved by the state in 2025 to carry out a "data processing on order" policy pilot.
This area is like a data bonded zone; requests from overseas come in directly via international submarine cables, inference calculations are completed within the zone, and the results are then sent back overseas the same way they came.
During this process, the relevant data is physically isolated from the domestic internet, ensuring data compliance and network security.
Currently, Shantou has completed the entire process, and overseas users in multiple countries and regions in Southeast Asia are smoothly calling upon "Shantou-made" token services.
This allows domestic AI technology and computing and electricity resources to be exported in the form of high value-added digital services for the first time.
In addition to policy advantages, Shantou also has advantages in computing power infrastructure.
The Shantou International Submarine Cable Landing Station has multiple international submarine cables, carrying 52% of the country's international export bandwidth, and the network latency to many overseas locations is lower.
For example, the network latency from Shantou to Singapore is as low as about 32.7 milliseconds, making it the fastest direct connection node in the country to Southeast Asia.
In addition, Shantou also boasts rich offshore wind power resources, which can provide a continuous supply of clean electricity for computing power centres.
Not only is the cost low, but it also meets international ESG standards and can provide a "green access pass" for entering markets with strict carbon emission controls, such as the European Union.
It can be said that Shantou, the place that first started developing "processing on order", is transforming towards "data processing on order", and is believed to become a typical case for the development of computing power and the exporting of tokens.
Exporting tokens faces challenges
Although the prospects are exciting, it is even more necessary to remain level-headed amidst the craze.
Currently, exporting tokens still faces many practical challenges, chief among which is cross-border data transfer. Although pilot projects are exploring this, if it is to be promoted on a large scale in the future, the compliance issues of cross-border data transfer still need to be further clarified.
How to establish a credible compliance framework amidst international games and the laws of various countries, is a continuous and long-term test.
Another often overlooked challenge, is the soft power of services.
Moving from leading in "hard infrastructure" to perfecting "soft connectivity" is a threshold that must be crossed.
In the long run, for China's tokens to be continuously exported, and to achieve "China computing for global problems", relying solely on data centres, fibre optic cables, electricity, and computing power is far from enough; it also requires the cooperation of soft powers such as ecosystem building, standard setting, and service support.
The global value of China's AI industry does not lie in the high or low volume of token calls at a particular moment; but rather in whether it can transform algorithmic capabilities, engineering experience, and application practices into globally shared products, helping more developing countries bridge the intelligence divide.
Read more:
What is a "Token factory"? What advantages does China have?
How to start a "one-person company" with AI?