China Builds 7 Trillion Yuan Computing Grid as AI Token Use Tops 140 Trillion a Day
Updated
Updated · CGTN · Jun 18
China Builds 7 Trillion Yuan Computing Grid as AI Token Use Tops 140 Trillion a Day
1 articles · Updated · CGTN · Jun 18
Summary
140 trillion tokens a day were consumed on average in China in March 2026, up from 100 billion in early 2024, pushing Beijing to build a national computing network linking data centers, supercomputers and edge facilities.
ByteDance's Doubao alone rose from about 100 billion daily tokens in May 2024 to more than 120 trillion by March 2026, reflecting rapid adoption of AI agents and large-model applications across industries.
7 trillion yuan in investment is projected this year for the computing network and related fields, as cloud providers shift toward token-based billing and enterprise token costs climb into the hundreds of thousands or millions of yuan a month.
5 million 5G base stations were already deployed by April 2026, with 500,000 new 5G-A sites planned, while 6G around 2030 and low-orbit satellites are meant to extend the grid into a nationwide air-space-ground-sea network.
Is China's state-funded AI boom a sustainable leap forward or a subsidized bubble on the verge of bursting?
Can China's low-cost models and massive data collection overcome the West's lead in advanced semiconductor technology?
With AI drones and robots filling China’s cities, what are the unforeseen societal impacts of this tech revolution?
China’s 2 Trillion Yuan Bet: Building a National AI Compute Utility and Global Token Economy
Overview
China is launching a bold national strategy to build a comprehensive computing power network, treating digital infrastructure and artificial intelligence as essential public utilities. Backed by a massive investment of 2 trillion yuan over five years, the plan includes constructing data centers nationwide to achieve technical autonomy and global leadership in advanced technologies like AI and quantum computing. This vision goes beyond infrastructure, aiming to make computing power widely accessible by converting electricity into AI tokens that can be sold globally. By offering competitively priced tokens, China lowers entry barriers and enables more users to access advanced AI capabilities.