A trio of new analyses underscores how quickly China is consolidating its lead in the clean-energy industries that are expected to power the global economy. A New York Times investigation, a ChinaPower report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and a study by France’s Institut Montaigne all conclude that Beijing’s industrial policy and scale advantages have left rivals struggling to catch up. China installed more wind turbines and solar panels last year than the rest of the world combined and ended 2024 with the largest offshore-wind fleet. In trade, it exported about $65 billion of lithium-ion batteries, $40 billion of solar modules and $38 billion of electric vehicles in 2023, dwarfing U.S. figures. The CSIS report attributes the dominance to sustained subsidies, control of critical minerals and rapid grid expansion, while warning that Beijing is simultaneously adding coal capacity as an energy back-stop. Europe’s climate-policy ambitions face a strategic bottleneck: the Institut Montaigne finds the bloc remains heavily reliant on Chinese equipment for wind, solar and battery projects even after Brussels set tougher emissions targets this week. Washington, meanwhile, is prioritising fossil-fuel exports, though a spike in domestic battery investment briefly pushed U.S. spending ahead of China in that single segment, according to Cipher Climate. Analysts say the widening technology gap is reshaping geopolitics. By financing and exporting clean-energy plants from Brazil to Kenya, Beijing is deepening trade ties just as it tightens controls on rare-earth magnet shipments. U.S. officials characterise the trend as a national-security challenge, yet industry groups caution that reversing it will require far heavier and more consistent investment in low-carbon manufacturing at home.