[Technological Advancements and Economic Shifts: A Review of China’s Digital, Travel, and Scientific Progress]-[China reports roughly 21.1 quadrillion token calls in 2025]

Special English · B1 · 2026-05-08

📋 Summary

Navigating China's Rapid Technological and Socio-Economic Shifts

As the world undergoes rapid transformation, the recent developments in China provide a unique lens through which to observe the intersection of artificial intelligence, space exploration, and international mobility. From the explosion of token usage to breakthroughs in orbital manufacturing, these advancements reflect a broader narrative of modernization and scientific ambition.

The Digital Barometer: AI Token Usage

One of the most significant indicators of China's technological evolution is the surge in AI adoption, measured specifically by "token call volume." According to a report from the National Data Administration, China’s token volume reached 21.1 quadrillion last year. This figure serves as a "barometer of industry development," highlighting how AI models process information through these "measurable, priceable and tradable" units.

By March of this year, the daily average of token calls exceeded 140 trillion—a staggering 1000-fold increase from the beginning of 2024. This rapid acceleration underscores the intensive integration of large-scale AI models into the Chinese industrial and digital landscape, marking a pivotal moment in the nation's digital economy.

Tourism Recovery and Global Connectivity

Beyond the digital realm, China's physical connectivity has seen a notable resurgence. During the May Day holiday, the country recorded nearly 113 million cross-border trips. The National Immigration Administration noted that border crossings averaged 226 million per day, with foreign national travel rising by 125 percent compared to the previous year. A key driver of this uptick is the expansion of visa-free entry policies, which facilitated 436,000 arrivals, representing a 14.7 percent increase. These figures illustrate a strong recovery in international exchange and a growing openness to global visitors.

Advancements in Orbital Manufacturing

Scientific innovation continues to push boundaries, particularly in the aerospace sector. Researchers from the Institute of Mechanics and the Innovation Academy for Microsatellites have successfully demonstrated "space metal three-dimensional printing technology" in orbit. This experiment, conducted on the Qingzhou cargo spacecraft, represents a shift from the traditional "bring what you need" model to an "in-orbit manufacturing and maintenance" paradigm.

This technology is fraught with engineering complexities, including the need to manage "metal droplet transfer," "liquid bridge stability," and "melt pool evolution" under microgravity. By utilizing a "laser wire feed process," the team verified the reliability of remote-controlled, autonomous operations. Looking ahead, this capability is expected to be vital for "spare part production" and "autonomous support for deep space missions," fundamentally changing how humans sustain infrastructure in space.

Empowering Research with ScienceONE

Finally, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has introduced "ScienceONE," an AI model system designed to bolster scientific research across domains such as mathematics, physics, and biology. Built upon a professional scientific corpus, ScienceONE offers three core functions: "Literature Compass," "Innovation Evaluation," and "Agent Factory."

Literature Compass: Enhances efficiency by providing autonomous literature reviews.
Innovation Evaluation: Acts as a radar for cutting-edge dynamics, helping researchers pinpoint key scientific problems.
Agent Factory: Offers over 2,000 research tools, enabling an "autonomous closed-loop agent toolchain."

With flagship-level performance in "agentic long horizon reasoning," ScienceONE represents a sophisticated effort to integrate AI into the entire research and innovation workflow, spanning eight specific scientific domains.

In conclusion, whether through the massive scaling of AI tokens, the resurgence of international travel, or the mastery of in-orbit printing, these developments paint a picture of a nation deeply committed to leveraging high-tech solutions to address both terrestrial and extraterrestrial challenges.

🎯Key Sentences

The world is changing fast, but you can learn it at a slower pace.

China saw a surge in cross-border travel during the May Day holiday

The technology is expected to help transform the traditional space mission model

It has to address special physical mechanisms

The demonstration also tested core capabilities

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📝Key Phrases

at a slower pace

a surge of

a barometer of

a key indicator of

in collaboration with

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📖 Transcript

The world is changing fast, but you can learn it at a slower pace.

Special English.

You are listening to Special English.

China's call volume of tokens totaled about 21.1 quadrillion last year.

That is according to a survey report released by the National Data Administration at the Ninth Digital China Summit, which was recently held in Fuzhou, in East China's Fujian Province.

Separate data from the administration revealed that by late March this year, China's average daily token calls had exceeded 140 trillion, which represented a surge of more than 1000-fold compared with the 100 billion recorded at the beginning of 2024 and amounted to an increase of over forty percent compared with the one hundred trillion registered at the end of two thousand twenty five tokens.

It has to address special physical mechanisms such as metal droplet transfer, liquid bridge stability and melt pool evolution under microgravity conditions, and also needs to resolve a series of engineering challenges, including payload light weighting launch vibrations energy, interface adaptation, as well as autonomous operation and in-orbit safety.

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