How to Choose a Chinese AI Model: A Decision Framework

This guide is a decision framework, not a ranking. It uses verified fields from the China AI Hub database (last verified 2026-09-22) and official provider pages. Prices change frequently; re-verify before committing.

Step 1: Price per task, not price per token

Output tokens dominate reasoning workloads. Compare price-per-completed-task, not the input price:

• The budget tier in our database lists $0.15/1M input: DeepSeek-V4.1-Flash ($0.60 output) and GLM-5.3-Flash ($0.50 output).
• The mid tier: MiniMax M3 at $0.30/$1.20 is the cheapest flagship by a wide margin.
• The premium tier: Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro at $6.00/$30.00 is the most expensive listing — twenty times MiniMax M3’s input price.

Long reasoning chains amplify output cost. If your task generates long chains of thought, compute expected output tokens before comparing.

Step 2: Context and output ceilings

Eleven current models in the database list 1M-token context windows, but maximum output varies:

• Kimi K3: 1,048,576 output (the full window).
• DeepSeek-V4-Pro: 393,216; Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro: 262,144.
• Qwen3.8-Max and GLM-5.3: 131,072.
• MiniMax M3: not publicly disclosed.

For long-form generation or whole-codebase rewriting, check the output ceiling, not just the input window.

Step 3: Capabilities you actually need

Look up the specific capability column, not the vendor’s overall pitch. From the database (2026-09-22):

• Vision and video: Qwen3.8-Max, Kimi K3, MiniMax M3, GLM-5.3-Flash (video), Qwen3.8-Flash.
• Structured output: DeepSeek-V4-Pro, V4.1-Flash, Qwen3.8-Max, Kimi K3, Doubao Seed series.
• Computer use: Doubao Seed 2.1 series and GLM-5.3-Flash (models); seven of ten tracked agents.
• Agent capability: Kimi K3, MiniMax M3, Doubao Seed 2.1 series, GLM-5.3-Flash.

A capability listed as “Yes” is a vendor listing, not an independent test result.

Step 4: Openness and licenses

If you must self-host, the field that matters is open_weight plus the actual license text:

• MIT: DeepSeek-V3.2, V4-Pro, V4.1-Flash — the most permissive.
• Apache-2.0: GLM-5.2, GLM-5.3, GLM-5.3-Flash.
• Custom with obligations: Kimi K3 (revenue-triggered agreements), MiniMax M3 (non-commercial boundary, attribution), Qwen3.8-2.4T-A95B (scale-triggered terms).

Read the license before commercial use — permissive-sounding licenses carry conditions in this ecosystem.

Step 5: Status and verification

Check the model’s status field: DeepSeek-V4-Pro is listed as deprecated in the database. Check last_verified dates and source types on every page you rely on. Vendor-reported benchmark scores are labeled as such; independent results are rarer.

The short version

• Cheapest flagship: MiniMax M3.
• Longest output: Kimi K3.
• Most permissive licenses: DeepSeek MIT releases.
• Vision+video+structured output: Qwen3.8-Max or Kimi K3.
• Computer use: Doubao Seed 2.1 Pro (model) or the seven agents listing it.

No single model wins these axes at once; the right choice is a function of your task’s weight on each.