E-commerce live streamers in Ethiopia can now use AI tools deployed in Xiamen, a coastal city in East China’s Fujian Province, to generate livestreaming scripts. This application is part of China’s digital service exports measured in tokens.
The Fujian branch of China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd. (China Mobile), relying on its parent company’s MoMA platform and the domestically developed U2 large language model (LLM), has completed the province’s first token export transaction. Serving a cross-border e-commerce livestreaming enterprise in Ethiopia, the service provider has recorded over 10 billion token calls within one week of launch.
A view of China Mobile’s computing zone dedicated to token export. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Empowering African Livestreaming
A token is the minimum computational unit for LLMs to process text, speech and images, and also a globally adopted billing unit for computing power.
The Ethiopian enterprise sends requests, via API, to the LLM deployed in a physically isolated zone at China Mobile Fujian branch’s Xiamen Data Center. The domestic LLM is able to generate livestreaming scripts by performing its various functions, such as text generation, multilingual translation, voice cloning and multilingual dubbing. In this process, the consumed tokens are calculated and the volume is sent to the user, who will later settle service fees based on actual token usage.
Two China Mobile staff members discuss work on token export. [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Facing Challenges Head-on
Conventional AI export solutions face challenges such as high cross-border network latency, inadequate computing power support, fragile security and weak compliance with regulations.
To tackle these challenges, China Mobile Fujian branch has made use of the advantages of the Xiamen International Data Hub to build up its five core capabilities regarding industrial ecosystem, security assurance, low-latency networks, one-stop platform and compliance system. By coordinating computing power, internet and LLM industrial resources, it has built a standardized cross-border token service platform to achieve controllable operations of the whole business procedures, including service subscription, token delivery and cross-border settlement. It has also optimized dedicated cross-border internet channels, cutting latency by 30 percent.
Exporting Computing Power
China Mobile Fujian branch offers three types of AI export services that enable Chinese enterprises to access overseas resources, overseas enterprises to purchase China’s AI services, and data to be transmitted across borders in a coordinated manner. It has made use of the MoMA platform to enrich the LLM’s resources and has rolled out multiple mainstream open-source LLM products, providing commercial testing services for a dozen enterprises.
China Mobile Fujian branch will continue to optimize its one-stop AI export service system, helping build Fujian into an international hub for the digital economy and a new highland for open digital trade.
(Executive editor: Zuo Shihan)
