CAICT Vice President Wei Liang said AI agents are fueling a new token economy as token-based metering, scheduling, pricing and trading models take shape.
China’s average daily token calls rose from about 100 billion at the start of 2024 to 140 trillion by the end of March 2026, according to CAICT Vice President Wei Liang. Speaking on the China Economic Lecture program, Wei said the jump of more than 1,000 times reflects the rapid spread of AI agents, which are software systems that can carry out tasks with limited human input. He said that expansion is giving rise to a new “token economy,” with token-based metering, scheduling, pricing and trading models beginning to emerge as AI adoption scales.