Chinese AI Models Rank Among Top 10 on OpenRouter for Token Consumption in March-April

Chinese artificial intelligence companies are pushing for the adoption of their flagship models overseas, taking on a role as a key source of 'token exports' to the global market, the South China Morning Post reported. Chinese AI models accounted for four of the top 10 models in terms of token consumption on OpenRouter from March 18 to April 18, according to the report.

-based model aggregation platform, integrates more than 300 leading AI models.

The platform processes over 30 trillion tokens per month. OpenRouter accounts for roughly 1 per cent of all trackable global token consumption, as stated by Frank Nagle of the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy in research cited by the South China Morning Post. This data highlights the growing visibility of Chinese models in global developer usage of AI systems.

Daily token consumption in China exceeded 140 trillion by March 2026, according to data from China’s National Data Administration reported by the South China Morning Post. This level represents a more than 1,000-fold increase from 100 billion in early 2024.

Daily token consumption in China also rose over 40 per cent in the first three months of 2026 compared with levels at the end of 2025, based on the same administration's figures.

The South China Morning Post article, written by Minxiao Chang in Shenzhen, examines the evolving compute ecosystem and how China’s token-driven AI services are expanding internationally. The report notes that domestic token demand has been surging at an exponential pace.

The article was published at 10:00pm on April 22, 2026, detailing these trends in AI model adoption and token consumption metrics.