The scepter of the global artificial intelligence competition is undergoing an unexpected shift. According to Caixin on February 27, 2026, the latest data from the world's largest AI model API aggregation platform, OpenRouter, shows that the weekly usage of Chinese AI models has officially surpassed that of the United States, with a growing lead.

Key Data: The Moment of China's "Overtaking"

During the period from February 16 to 22, Chinese AI models showed remarkable explosive growth:

Surge in Usage: The weekly usage of Chinese models soared to 5.16 trillion Tokens, rising by 127% within three weeks.

Decline in US Models: During the same period, the usage of US models dropped to 2.7 trillion Tokens, roughly half of that of China's.

Global Dominance: Among the top five models by usage on the global platform, four are from Chinese companies, demonstrating a high level of penetration of domestic large-scale models in the developer ecosystem.

Diplomacy and Trade: Frequent Exchanges Between China-Germany and China-US

At the same time, the fields of trade and diplomacy have also released positive signals:

German Chancellor Visits Yujie Technology: On February 26, German Chancellor Merkel arrived in Hangzhou to visit Yujie Technology. He watched the boxing and dance performance of the "Wu BOT" robot, which was also featured in the Spring Festival Gala. Wang Xingxing, founder of Yujie Technology, expressed hope for more cooperation with German companies.

Ministry of Commerce Responds to Sino-US Trade Negotiations: China is willing to work with the US to implement the consensus from the Busan meeting, manage differences through equal negotiations, and maintain stability in Sino-US trade relations.

Financial Trends: Renminbi Exchange Rate Strongly Reverts to the "6.8 Era"

After the Spring Festival holiday, the renminbi performed strongly:

Three Consecutive Rises in Exchange Rate: The onshore and offshore renminbi exchange rates against the US dollar rose nearly 600 basis points over three trading days.

Three-Year High: It broke through the 6.83 level. Although enterprises' willingness to convert foreign exchange has strengthened, there has not yet been an extreme situation of concentrated conversion.