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China Sets Official Name for 'Token' as 'Word Unit'

China Sets Official Name for 'Token' as 'Word Unit'

April 2, 2026
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The Chinese government website recently republished a People's Daily article citing the National Data Administration, which officially designated the fundamental unit of large models, "Token," as "Word Element" in formal contexts. The report indicates that daily usage of Word Elements within China's AI industry now exceeds 140 trillion. This authoritative designation not only concludes the longstanding academic and industry debate over the Chinese translation of "Token," but also signifies a further step in standardizing large model technical terminology at the national level.

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Previously, various terms for "Token" competed within the industry. Scholar Yang Bin from the Tencent Research Institute proposed "Model Element," sparking broad discussion. Later, the suggestion of "Intelligence Element," put forward by Baichuan Intelligence founder Wang Xiaochuan, Lunchen Technology founder You Yang, and former Tsinghua University associate professor Hu Yilin, gained significant traction on social media. This term highlighted Token's role as a unit of "general intelligence" rather than merely "general computation."

The government's chosen term, "Word Element," however, focuses more on the underlying technical logic. Officially explained as the smallest unit for AI to comprehend human language, a Word Element's segmentation granularity sits between characters and words. This allows for more precise coverage of semantic slices during large model text processing. As usage approaches the historic 140-trillion milestone, a unified terminology standard will help reduce communication costs across the industry and lay a solid foundation for the statistical quantification and policy-making surrounding future AI infrastructure.

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