Is the US Losing to China in Key Technological Industries?

A 2025 Overview

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The United States and China are the world’s two largest economies and are increasingly competing for dominance in key technological industries. Recent claims suggest that the US is losing to China in several critical sectors: robotics, transportation, energy generation and storage, and infrastructure. This article will examine the available evidence to assess the accuracy of these claims

Robotics

Current State of Robotics in the US and China

While the US has historically been a leader in robotics innovation, China has made significant strides in recent years. In 2021, China surpassed the US in robot density for the first time1. Robot density is defined as the number of operational industrial robots relative to the number of workers. In 2021, China had 322 robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry, compared to 274 in the US2. By 2023, China’s robot density had further increased to 470 units per 10,000 employees, ranking third globally after South Korea and Singapore[3].

Photo by ZHENYU LUO on Unsplash

China’s rapid adoption of robots is largely attributed to government policies that promote automation in manufacturing[4]. The…