Energy is a key battleground, where science and technology provide an advantage in a much broader geopolitical rivalry. As a global leader in solar, wind, and battery technologies, China is well-positioned to power the clean energy needs of tomorrow’s economy, which is increasingly digital and reliant on data centers.
In 2025 alone, China increased its electricity generation capacity by more than 500 gigawatts, 80% of which came from solar and wind power. The capacity added by China since 2021 exceeds the total capacity of the United States.
While China is anchoring its energy strategy in cutting-edge science, the United States is backtracking by promoting coal, oil, and gas, while needlessly scuttling clean energy projects. This approach not only threatens American dominance in science and technology but also accelerates global warming and weakens the long-term competitiveness of the U.S. economy.

Research increasingly shows that economic development subject to scientifically defined limits—such as the 1.5°C global warming target set by the Paris Climate Agreement—leads to greater efficiency and technological innovation.
Consequently, China’s central goal of creating an “ecological civilization” is likely to accelerate its own scientific advancements. In 2024, scientists at Tsinghua surprised the climate science community by publishing an analysis of the remaining global carbon budget six months earlier than expected, thanks to their use of new big-data methodologies.
While liberal democracies falter from quarter to quarter, China has steadily strengthened its industrial and research capabilities in strategic sectors such as batteries, electric vehicles, solar power, telecommunications, advanced manufacturing, and infrastructure supporting artificial intelligence. According to the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s tracking of critical technologies, China leads in 57 of the 64 cutting-edge technologies assessed for the 2019–2023 period, compared to just three two decades ago.
In short: China defines a strategy, then acts accordingly. Its five-year plans are instruments for aligning finance, infrastructure, education, public procurement, and industrial investment over long periods. The 15th Five-Year Plan focuses on scientific and technological self-reliance, with Chinese leaders presenting technology as the cornerstone of national development and security.
Data show that China’s R&D spending increased by 8.7% in 2023, a figure well above the OECD average as well as that of the United States and the European Union.

 

It is therefore not surprising that the World Intellectual Property Organization now ranks China among the world’s most innovative economies, particularly in terms of knowledge and technology production.
Admittedly, China has benefited enormously from access to global markets, foreign capital, imported know-how, integration into international supply chains, and access to existing scientific advancements. Combined with domestic investments in education and scientific research capabilities, these factors have made the country’s historic development possible. But today, the geopolitical winds are shifting, and after having capitalized on openness, China is now pursuing technological independence, particularly in strategically sensitive areas.
China has successfully pursued a long-term strategy aimed at dominating the technologies that will shape this century, and it is unlikely to share the benefits it has derived from globalization.
In this Year of the Fire Horse, everyone should take note of what has been evident to the scientific community for some time: China has shifted from a trot to a gallop.