Reference News Network, January 21 report: The U.S. "New York Times" website published an article titled "Trump is obsessed with oil, but China's batteries will quickly dominate the world" on January 19. The author is Wang Dan (音), a researcher at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University and the author of "Racing Forward: China's Exploration to Build the Future." The following is a compilation of the article:

U.S. President Trump has a naked desire for foreign natural resources and the power they may bring him. He claimed that the U.S. intervention in Venezuela was for "oil," and he bet that investors would invest at least $10 billion to revitalize this increasingly backward industry. His bet is that countries will still want to buy oil from the U.S. for decades to come, to power their cars, trucks, ships, and airplanes.

Although China is the world's largest oil importer, it is vigorously promoting the replacement of oil with electricity.

Chinese technology companies are paving the way for a world driven by electricity rather than internal combustion engines. This is the development approach of the 21st century, which not only solves its own energy problems but also sells batteries and other products to everyone else.

Although Americans are slow to adopt electric vehicles, Chinese families have fallen in love with them. In 2025, 54% of new cars sold in China will be purely electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Chinese electric vehicle manufacturers are constantly setting records, whether it's BYD's sales (its all-electric models sold more than Tesla for the first time last year), or Xiaomi's speed (Xiaomi cars have set track records on famous circuits such as the Nürburgring in Germany).

These cars are not powered by fuel but by electricity produced in China. This electricity comes from coal, nuclear, hydro, solar, and wind energy.

China now generates more electricity each year than the combined total of the United States and the European Union. China is not only building large-scale power facilities, but other industries are also carrying out corresponding technological infrastructure construction to meet the needs of electrification.

Lithium-ion batteries were invented by American and Japanese scientists, but Chinese companies became the backbone of the industry in the 2010s.

The U.S. is far behind in this competition. On one hand, Elon Musk is making every effort to elevate the status of electric vehicles and improve related technologies. On the other hand, the U.S. basic industry has basically given up battery production.

Electrification requires participation from all aspects, including the construction of power plants and support from large-scale manufacturing, which is exactly where China excels. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley is more willing to play a role in high-profit digital businesses.

If there is more power and industrial infrastructure support, U.S. companies could better compete with others in the manufacture of drones and electric vehicles. However, the president who governs this country is enthusiastic about using fossil fuels to power the future. The U.S. government has made slow progress in approving solar and wind energy projects, while favoring coal and natural gas, making electrification even more difficult.

The U.S. had better pull itself together, otherwise it will fall far behind in the electrification era that China has initiated. Otherwise, when China conquers the market with better technology, the U.S. will be stuck with inferior products. (Translation/Pan Xiaoyan)

Original source: toutiao.com/article/7597690789421941288/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.