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

To develop artificial intelligence (AI), China is catching up with the United States in increasing its power generation capacity. China’s projected growth in power generation capacity by 2025 is believed to be seven times that of the United States. China leverages low-cost electricity as a weapon to compensate for its semiconductor performance falling short of the U.S. level. Power supply capacity could influence the outcome of the AI competition between China and the U.S.

Predictions released by the Chinese government in December 2025 indicate that the new power plants and other additions in China will amount to approximately 470 gigawatts of generation capacity in 2025. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that during the same period, the U.S. increased its generation capacity by 64 gigawatts.

China’s generation capacity surpassed that of the United States in 2013 and reached 2.5 times the U.S. level by 2024. In the 2025 increase, China also outpaces the U.S., further widening the gap between the two countries. The Chinese government expects the generation capacity to increase to 1.5 times the 2024 level by 2030.

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