China's electricity generation increase reaches 7 times that of the United States, influencing AI competition.

SelfStaking · 2026-03-30T12:55:14+00:00

China is gradually increasing its power generation capacity in the field of artificial intelligence research and development. By 2025, the new power generation capacity is expected to reach 470 gigawatts, seven times that of the United States, further widening the gap with the U.S. Low-cost electricity will become an important advantage for China in the US-China AI competition.

SelfStaking

2026-03-30 12:55:14

Abstract generation in progress

Centered on the development of artificial intelligence (AI), China is catching up to the United States in terms of power generation capacity. The increase in China’s power generation capacity in 2025 is believed to be 7 times that of the United States. China uses low-cost electricity as a weapon to offset the weakness that its semiconductor performance is not as good as America’s. The ability to supply electricity could determine the course of AI competition between China and the United States.

Projections released by the Chinese government in December 2025 show that generation capacity for new power plants in China in 2025 is around 470 gigawatts. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that, during the same period, the United States added 64 gigawatts of generation capacity.

China’s power generation capacity surpassed that of the United States in 2013, reaching 2.5 times the U.S. level by 2024. On the incremental gains in 2025 as well, China is ahead of the United States, widening the gap further between the two countries. The Chinese government expects that by 2030, power generation capacity will rise to 1.5 times the 2024 level.

To continue reading, please click here to go to the Nikkei Chinese website

Nikkei Inc. and the Financial Times merged into the same media group in November 2015. The alliance between two newspaper companies—both founded in the 19th century, one in Japan and one in the UK—is moving forward with collaboration across a wide range of areas, under the banner of “high-quality, the strongest economic journalism.” This time, as part of that effort, article exchanges have been enabled between the Chinese websites of the two newspapers.

View Original

This page may contain third-party content, which is provided for information purposes only (not representations/warranties) and should not be considered as an endorsement of its views by Gate, nor as financial or professional advice. See Disclaimer for details.