China is planning decades ahead on clean energy. The U.S. has other priorities

China’s leaders have worked intently over the past twenty years to dominate clean energy technologies, building commanding leads in solar panels, electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, and other critical industries. In the new Five-Year Plan, approved in early March at the annual National People’s Congress, policymakers signaled their intent to double down on their successes and establish a lead in frontier technologies like hydrogen and fusion power.  

Beijing’s focus on these industries recognizes both climatic and industry trends. According to the most recent consensus report [PDF] from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the world is on pace to warm by nearly 3°C by the end of this century—a level of warming that could imperil food production, worsen public health, and threaten infrastructure resilience in large parts of the world. Clean energy technologies not only help mitigate these and other climate-related risks, but also improve countries’ resilience to price shocks in traditional fuels like oil and gas stemming from external crises like the ongoing conflict in Iran. That is why the International Energy Agency projects that renewable energy installations will double over the next five years, and Chinese companies are now in a prime position to capitalize on that opportunity.  

The contrast with the United States could hardly be more stark. The Donald Trump administration has withdrawn from major international climate commitments and uprooted its domestic investments in clean energy development to focus on fossil fuel exploration and production. The United States is now paying companies not to build renewable energy projects—an extraordinary turnaround from previous administrations, and a clear contrast to China’s approach.

Read more at Council on Foreign Relations