Chinese uses a decimal system.
The image below is something I randomly found on Google, from a Japanese website, but that’s fine—it’s almost identical to Chinese.
I’m directly referencing this image.
However, there’s one difference: the character “兆” (zhào) in Chinese culture can mean 10^6, 10^12, or 10^16, depending on the context.
In modern mainland China, this word is smaller, representing 1000 × 1000, or 10^6, which is equivalent to the Western “K squared” or “M” (million).
In other regions, like Japan, Korea, and Taiwan, it means 10^12.
In ancient Chinese texts, however, this character meant 10^16.
This is quite natural.
For example, the word “billion” in English means 10^12 in some contexts.
In the U.S., it’s 10^9.
But because of America’s dominance, even British people now often consider “billion” to mean 10^9.
Similarly, the character “兆” will likely follow mainland China’s current standard in the future, meaning 10^6.
However, in ancient China, for larger numbers, the decimal system shifted to a “ten-thousand-based” system (万), and later a “hundred-million-based” system (亿).
At its core, it’s still scientific notation.
For instance, a number like 10^100 is purely of mathematical significance.