Shantou's toy industry is undergoing a quiet revolution, with AI-powered toys emerging as a new frontier for global expansion. The city has established the first full closed-loop "token going overseas" value chain in China, with daily token calls growing from 100 million in late April to 10 billion in less than a month.
3-Week Path to Mass Production
In Shantou Chenghai, the "Capital of China's Toys," the time to bring an AI toy to mass production has been dramatically shortened. Through the China Mobile AIoT Toy Intelligent Agent Platform, enterprises can achieve AI toy mass production in as little as 3 weeks without independent R&D or self-built infrastructure.
According to estimates, the AI transformation cycle for enterprises can be shortened by 60%, saving approximately 200,000 yuan in upgrade costs per company.
Token Going Overseas: A New Export Model
The real opportunity lies in "token going overseas." When AI toys go overseas, every interaction corresponds to a cross-border flow of tokens. Shantou's "submarine cable + green electricity + data processing" model is providing the infrastructure for this new export paradigm.
Leveraging low-latency submarine cables, green electricity cost advantages, and a deep overseas Chinese business network, the "data processing for export" model is expected to extend from toys to cross-border e-commerce, AI content, intelligent education, and other fields.
Cost Advantages and Market Penetration
Through token going overseas, Shantou's AI toy computing costs have been reduced by 30%. Multiple companies have already exported AI toys equipped with domestic large models to Southeast Asian markets.
"From AI toys as a starting point, Shantou is building itself into China's preferred destination for token going overseas," industry observers note.
A Quiet Industrial Upgrade
While most still view Shantou as a "toy OEM base," a quiet industrial upgrade transformation has formed a complete industrial closed-loop in the city. The integration of AI with traditional toy manufacturing represents a new pathway for Chinese manufacturing to capture value in global markets.
Post time: Sep-07-2026
