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About this Episode
The artificial intelligence surge is rapidly reshaping China's digital economy. On Tuesday, a senior official in charge of data security pointed to an explosion in "tokens" as both a barometer of growth and a new export frontier.
人工智能的迅猛发展正在重塑中国的数字经济。3月24日，国家数据局局长刘烈宏在国新办发布会上指出，“词元”（Token）的爆发式增长既是衡量行业发展的晴雨表，也正成为新的出口前沿领域。
Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said that daily consumption of tokens — tiny data units used by AI models — had surpassed 140 trillion as of March, a more than 1,000-fold increase from the 100 billion recorded at the beginning of 2024 and over 40 percent higher than the 100 trillion recorded at the end of last year.
刘烈宏表示，截至今年3月，全国日均词元调用量已超过140万亿，较2024年初的1000亿增长逾千倍，较去年底的100万亿增长超过40%。词元是人工智能模型所使用的微型数据单元。
"The surge signals that China's AI industry is expanding quickly and evolving from basic chat functions to more sophisticated systems capable of decision-making and task execution," Liu said.
刘烈宏指出：“这一激增表明，中国人工智能产业正快速扩张，从基础对话功能向具备决策与任务执行能力的复杂系统演进。”
Liu made the remarks on Tuesday at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office to announce the 9th Digital China Summit, which will take place from April 29 to 30 in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province.
3月24日,刘烈宏在国务院新闻办公室举行的发布会上作出上述表述。此次发布会宣布，第九届数字中国建设峰会将于4月29日至30日在福建省福州市举办。
Nearly 400 leading companies, including China Southern Power Grid and Alibaba Group, will introduce their latest technologies and products at the event. The summit will showcase nearly 100 exemplary cases of data element integration across agriculture, industrial manufacturing, healthcare, culture and tourism, with over 65 percent of the exhibits making their debut.
包括南方电网、阿里巴巴集团在内的近400家领军企业将在峰会期间展示最新技术和产品。峰会将集中展示近百个数据要素融合典型应用案例，涵盖农业、工业制造、医疗、文旅等领域，其中超65%的展品为首次亮相。
At the news conference, Liu announced that the government's next step for developing data elements will be to establish a unified national system for registering data property rights and roll out policies to build an integrated national data market and promote data infrastructure development. He emphasized that "token exports", a term gaining traction in the industry, are a visible marker of this shift for China.
在发布会上，刘烈宏介绍了国家数据要素发展的下一步举措：将建立全国统一的数据产权登记体系，出台建设全国一体化数据市场的政策文件，推动数据基础设施建设。他强调，业界热议的“词元出海”正是中国这一转型的显性标志。
At the heart of the trend lies a new economic logic. China is converting electricity into AI computing power and selling it globally in the form of tokens. The tokens measure how AI models read and generate the amount of text. The AI models are powered by China's computing power, and behind this computing power is China's massive reserves of electricity.
这一趋势的核心在于新的商业逻辑。中国正将电力转化为人工智能算力，并以“词元”的形式销往全球。词元用于衡量人工智能模型读取和生成文本的数量，这些模型由中国算力驱动，而算力背后则是中国庞大的电力储备。
While raw electricity exported from China fetches about 0.5 yuan ($0.07) per kilowatt-hour, industry estimates suggest that converting that same energy into AI processing services can increase its value by up to 22 times.
中国出口的电力原煤每千瓦时约0.5元，而业内估算显示，将同等能源转化为人工智能处理服务后，其价值可提升至22倍。
A new value chain is rapidly taking shape around token generation, distribution and billing, offering one of the clearest pathways yet for AI monetization.
围绕词元的调用、分发与结算，一条新的价值链正在快速成形，为人工智能商业化提供了迄今为止最清晰的路径之一。
Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said: "This pathway lowers the entry barrier for global users. Competitively priced tokens allow small businesses, independent developers and users in emerging markets to access AI tools that were once out of reach."
北京市社会科学院研究员王鹏表示：“这种路径降低了全球用户的使用门槛。具有竞争力的词元定价，让中小企业、独立开发者以及新兴市场用户能够获得曾经难以企及的人工智能工具。”
Notably, China's western regions provide abundant low-cost renewable energy. The country has also built a vertically integrated supply chain spanning ultra-high-voltage transmission equipment, liquid-cooled data centers and server assembly — a combination that few rivals can match.
值得注意的是，中国西部地区拥有丰富的低成本可再生能源。中国还构建了涵盖特高压输电设备、液冷数据中心、服务器组装的垂直整合供应链，这种组合优势少有竞争对手能及。
Shi Yuxia, a senior engineer at the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said: "The cost advantage of Chinese tokens over foreign competitors is not just down to electricity prices. It is a combination of energy cost advantages, improved AI capabilities and supply chain dominance."
中国信息通信研究院高级工程师石雨霞表示：“中国词元相较海外竞争对手的成本优势不仅在于电价，更是能源成本优势、人工智能能力提升与供应链主导地位的综合体现。”
barometer /bəˈrɒmɪtə(r)/晴雨表
sophisticated /səˈfɪstɪkeɪtɪd/复杂的；精密的
data property rights /ˈdeɪtə ˈprɒpəti raɪts/数据产权
token exports /ˈtəʊkən ˈekspɔːts/词元出海
reserves of electricity /rɪˈzɜːvz əv ɪˌlekˈtrɪsəti/电力储备
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