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

In developing artificial intelligence (AI), China is catching up to the United States in terms of power-generation capacity. It is believed that China’s increase in power-generation capacity in 2025 will reach 7 times that of the United States. China uses low-cost electricity as a weapon to make up for its weakness in semiconductor performance compared with the U.S. The ability to supply electricity could determine the outcome of AI competition between China and the United States.

Forecasts released by the Chinese government in December 2025 show that China’s generating capacity for newly built power stations in 2025 and similar projects will be about 470 gigawatts. According to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), during the same period, the United States added 64 gigawatts of generating capacity.

China’s generating capacity surpassed that of the United States in 2013 and reached 2.5 times the U.S. level in 2024. In the 2025 incremental increase, China also outpaced the United States, further widening the gap between China and the United States. The Chinese government expects that by 2030, its generating capacity will grow to 1.5 times the 2024 level.

To continue reading, please click here to visit Nikkei Chinese.

The Nikkei Inc. and the Financial Times merged in November 2015 to become the same media group. The alliance between two newspapers—Japan’s and Britain’s—both founded in the 19th century is moving forward with “high-quality, the strongest economic journalism” as its banner, advancing wide-ranging cooperation such as joint special features. This time, as part of that effort, article exchanges have been implemented between the Chinese-language websites of the two newspapers.