China's domestic AI token prices, usage and inference volume rise sharply in 2026
Overview
The China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) says the normalized average price of domestic AI models rose from 6.8 yuan in the second half of 2025 to 13.46 yuan so far in 2026, an increase of almost 100 percent.
Its report on large-model token service performance says daily token consumption in China reached about 500 trillion in June 2026, and output throughput for domestic models doubled to 78.23 tokens per second in August. The same model's throughput, latency and success rate vary by nearly 2x across platforms.
The China Center for Information Industry Development (CCID), a research institute under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, says in a report released October 31 that AI inference data in China has overtaken training data for the first time. The report puts daily token calls above 175 trillion as of June 2026, more than 1,000 times the level at the start of 2024. Reports on the findings do not explain how CCID measured inference and training data volumes.
Written by AI from the articles below · updated Nov 2, 2:55 AM ET
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Developments
2 developments
- Nov 1, 9:11 PM ET · 2 articlesCCID says China's AI inference data volume has overtaken training dataPandaily: China's AI inference data surpasses training data, with over 175 trillion daily token calls
- Oct 23, 10:02 PM ET · 1 articleCAICT report finds domestic model token prices nearly doubled in 2026 as daily use hit 500 trillionPandaily: CAICT report finds domestic model prices nearly doubled in 2026 as daily token use reached 500 trillion
Article timeline
The articles in this story. Times are ET.
- South China Morning Post · TechNewsChina says AI inference token volume surpassed training data for first time
AIA China Centre for Information Industry Development report, released by the government-linked CCID, says AI inference data in China has surpassed the data used to train those systems for the first time. The report cites official figures showing China's average daily token calls exceeded 175 trillion, more than 1,000 times the level of early 2024.
- PandailyNewsChina's AI inference data surpasses training data, with over 175 trillion daily token calls
AIThe China Center for Information Industry Development says AI inference data in China has overtaken training data for the first time, according to a report released October 31. The report puts daily token calls in China at more than 175 trillion as of June 2026, over 1,000 times the level at the start of 2024. It does not explain how inference and training data volumes were measured.
- PandailyNewsCAICT report finds domestic model prices nearly doubled in 2026 as daily token use reached 500 trillion
AIThe China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) reports that domestic model prices averaged 13.46 yuan so far in 2026, nearly 100 percent above the second half of 2025. Daily token consumption in China reached about 500 trillion in June 2026, and output throughput for domestic models doubled to 78.23 tokens per second in August. The report also finds that the same model's throughput, latency and success rate vary widely across platforms, with gaps of nearly 2x.
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