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Caroline Lin

China’s state media has called for English-language terms related to artificial intelligence (AI) to be dropped in favour of standardised Chinese equivalents in a push to boost the country’s “discourse power”.
As AI technologies have rapidly spread in China, English terms have entered common speech in the country, such as “agent” and “LLM” for large language model, a commentary published by the Communist Party mouthpiece People’s Daily noted earlier this month.
The article argued that reliance on foreign terminology would lead to “cognitive dependency” and ultimately undermine the country’s voice in global technology governance.
This latest call to action follows China’s official designation of ciyuan as the standard translation for “token” in March at the China Development Forum 2026. Ci means “word”, while yuan is often associated with fundamental elements or currency. Specifically, the yuan is the base monetary unit of China’s official currency, the renminbi.
The commentary said that reliance on foreign jargon could deprive China of the authority to define key concepts, stunt the growth of original domestic theories and hinder the development of a Chinese framework for talking about technology.
English AI terms were rarely self-explanatory to ordinary Chinese people, the commentary argued, contrasting them with earlier examples of technologies whose names were localised, such as dian nao – electric brain – for computer.


Untranslated terms “not only raise the threshold for the public to understand cutting-edge technology, widening the digital divide, but also gradually erode the integrity and continuity of the Chinese language system”, the article warned.
Building up China’s “discourse power” has become a priority for the authorities in recent years. This effort to shape narratives can include “telling China’s story well” by bolstering the state’s external propaganda as well as building Chinese academic frameworks to reduce reliance on Western approaches.
For instance, a top party official in June called on the nation’s Tibetologists to build up China’s discourse power over matters relating to Tibet.
Language has often been a focus of these efforts. Last month, another article in the People’s Daily voiced concern that the widespread use of English-origin abbreviations in everyday Chinese conversations was harming the country’s “cultural confidence”.
Graham Webster, a research scholar in Chinese technology policy at Stanford University, said that while ciyuan seemed like an apt word for token, framing it as a matter of national power and cultural sovereignty read more like a symbolic gesture than a real driver of technological or social change.


He said that numerous technical terms already had standard Chinese translations, while AI experts would normally read research papers and software documentation in English.
“China’s real influence in the AI sector comes from the adoption of its open models and the international technical community’s appreciation for how they are built,” Webster noted.
Nevertheless, the People’s Daily commentary stressed that standardising Chinese terminology should not mean a blanket ban on English terms. Instead, it proposed a dual-track approach.
The article suggested retaining English terms in international exchanges and collaborations to ensure efficient communication, while actively promoting standard Chinese translations in domestic contexts such as education and policy popularisation.
It called for the authorities to bridge the gap between official terminology and rapid tech iteration. Media and tech firms should actively adopt standardised terms, while universities should ensure young people had “native language awareness” to collectively “build a solid language defence”, it said.
The article has sparked debate online. While some agreed that native terms could help students build better conceptual frameworks, others questioned whether localisation was truly necessary.
Commentators gave examples of English-origin terms for technology that are already deeply ingrained in everyday Chinese – such as Wi-fi, SIM card and app – arguing that official translations for such terms often feel clunky and redundant.


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Why is Chinese state media telling people to stop using English AI terms?

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China

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Diplomacy

People’s Daily commentary is part of broader efforts to bolster China’s ‘discourse power’ in global conversations


People’s Daily commentary is part of broader efforts to bolster China’s ‘discourse power’ in global conversations.


United States

Stanford University

People’s Daily

Why is Chinese state media telling people to stop using English AI terms?

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}People’s Daily commentary is part of broader efforts to bolster China’s ‘discourse power’ in global conversations

People’s Daily commentary is part of broader efforts to bolster China’s ‘discourse power’ in global conversations