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The window for the U.S. to have a chance to outbuild China in the race for what the Trump administration has dubbed global “energy dominance” may be closing.
According to a report out today from energy think tank Ember, China’s clean energy technology exports are rapidly approaching the scale of the country’s traditional “old three” export engines: garments, furniture, and appliances. In the first half of 2026, cleantech accounted for 6.6% of all Chinese exports, or $140 billion. That’s up from just 2.7% in 2020
This surge also comes as the country’s power demand grew by 5% last year — and all of it was met with clean power. That clean buildout pushed thermal (mostly coal) generation down slightly, even as total power consumption crossed a record 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours. Just last week, solar beat out coal for capacity in China for the first time.
These aren’t unexpected numbers. Analysts have long predicted that China’s massive manufacturing buildout would eventually outpace domestic demand and transform clean technology into a dominant global export engine. Now that it has happened, China has enormous influence over global cleantech markets — but still consumes quantities of fossil fuels at home. China is home to the world’s largest coal fleet and remains the world’s largest crude oil importer.
