US-Iran talks ended in a bust, and the US Navy moved to block the Strait of Hormuz, stopping ships from entering or leaving. That sent international oil prices climbing again, close to US$100 a barrel.
On April 14, though, the Associated Press ran an article headlined “Iran war’s global energy crisis sharpens China’s advantage in clean tech”, citing experts who said global energy turmoil is speeding the shift away from fossil fuels and toward clean and renewable energy — sectors where China holds a dominant position. The result, the AP said, is that China stands to benefit from the US-Iran war.
The article said most of the Strait of Hormuz is now shut, and most of the oil and gas moved through it originally flowed to Asia. Much of Asia has been hit hard by the fighting.
China, however, as the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, could gain from disruptions to fossil fuel supplies. It leads the world in exports of batteries, solar power and electric vehicles, and markets expect global demand for renewable energy products to rise further.
The AP said that by late February, before the US-Iran war broke out, China’s lead in clean energy was already widening. By contrast, US President Trump was cutting investment in renewable energy, leaning instead on his country’s oil and gas resources and aggressively expanding energy exports to reach what he called “energy dominance.”
Now the world is confronting how fragile fossil fuels are, and interest in low-emission energy products is rising by the day. Chinese industrial giants such as BYD and battery maker CATL are well placed to profit from that shift.
Sam Reynolds of the US Energy Economics and Financial Analysis Institute said, “The US-Iran conflict fully validates China’s approach to energy development and geopolitics.”
China’s Clean Tech Lead
The article notes that more than a decade ago, China already tied energy security to national security. Since then, fossil fuels still dominate the domestic energy mix, but China keeps pouring money into renewable energy.
International Energy Agency data show China produces more than 70% of the world’s electric vehicles and about 85% of its batteries. China’s current 15th Five-Year Plan, through 2030, keeps those industries at the top of the list.
Li Shuo, director of the China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, puts it bluntly: “They are at the forefront of this, ahead of any other country in the world, and certainly ahead of the United States.”
The United States remains the world’s largest oil producer and is pushing liquefied natural gas hard. Trump captured that approach with “drill, baby, drill,” a slogan that lays bare America’s tilt toward fossil fuels over renewable energy.
Reynolds says the prewar market was already splitting apart, with superpowers pursuing sharply different energy futures. That left other countries stuck weighing which model to back.
Click to Gallery
The US-Iran war has triggered a global energy crisis, yet an AP article says it has instead highlighted China’s advantage in clean energy.
China accounts for more than 70% of global electric vehicle production.
Trump’s strategy leans more toward fossil fuels than renewable energy.
The US-Israel-Iran war has sent oil prices soaring, sparking a new round of EV buying across the Asia-Pacific region and boosting demand for BYD.
High oil costs are driving a surge in demand for new energy storage equipment, including solar panels.
Rising Demand for Chinese Exports
The war in Iran is stoking global demand for Chinese technology. UK energy and climate think tank Ember says exports of Chinese products such as solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles reached a record nearly $22.3 billion in December 2025, up about 47% from a year earlier, with most of the goods shipped to Southeast Asia and Europe.
In recent years, Chinese automakers have pushed hard into electric vehicle research, development and manufacturing. Their export growth has also outpaced rivals in the United States and Europe, giving them a cheaper offer and helping them gain ground in markets such as Southeast Asia.
Amy Myers Jaffe of New York University’s Center for Global Affairs said the energy shock will benefit Chinese industry worldwide while hurting the US auto industry. At the same time, high US tariffs have effectively kept Chinese electric vehicles out of the Us market.
Bloomberg also reported that the oil-price spike triggered by the US-Israel-Iran war is setting off a wave of electric-vehicle buying across the Asia-Pacific region, with Chinese EV makers, thanks to their price and supply-chain advantages, first to reap the gains. The report said BYD has seen a sharp jump in demand in New Zealand, where sales of electric and hybrid vehicles on March 14 reached four times a normal weekend level.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showed that in March, Chinese automakers doubled their share of new-car sales in the UK from a year earlier. Analysts said consumer interest in electric vehicles surged after the Iran conflict broke out. Data from renewable energy group Octopus Energy showed that demand for EV leasing in the UK during the first three weeks of March was more than one-third higher than in the comparable prewar period in February; sales of rooftop solar products and related inquiries also rose.
Storage and Investment Gains
China is also seeing a fresh export surge in energy storage equipment. In the first two months of this year, total inverter exports — a core component of energy storage systems — rose 57% from a year earlier, with Europe the main importer.
Fitch Ratings says countries heavily dependent on energy imports, including many in Europe, are expected to step up investment in renewable energy and battery storage. Investors are betting the war will boost demand for renewable energy. In March, shares of CATL and BYD listed in Hong Kong rose about 24% and 11%, respectively.
James Bowen of ReMap Research told the Associated Press that households facing high energy costs may turn to clean energy.
Pakistan is an early example. The country began promoting renewable energy in 2017 and had imported more than 50 gigawatts of solar panels from China by last December. It still relies on imports for one-third of its energy; about 80% of its oil is transported via the Strait of Hormuz, and Qatar once supplied a quarter of its liquefied natural gas. Nabiya Imran of Renewables First said, "If [Pakistan] did not have solar power, the impact would be even greater,"
Even Indonesia, the world’s largest coal exporter, is making adjustments that could make it a bigger customer for China’s clean energy technologies. In March, Indonesian President Prabowo announced a major push to develop electric vehicles, including plans to produce EVs and expand charging infrastructure.
Emerging Markets Adapt Fast
Patrick Tan of energy consultancy Aurora Energy Research says the continuing surge in fuel prices could become a catalyst for the future of electric vehicles. But it will take time before that shows up in sales, in part because consumers may be waiting to see how the war unfolds.
The Guardian has also noted that, compared with other Asian economies reliant on Middle Eastern oil, China has large reserves of oil and liquefied natural gas, along with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
It is also pushing ahead with new energy and electric vehicles to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, giving it unusually strength in a crisis.
The US-Iran war has triggered a global energy crisis, yet an AP article says it has instead highlighted China’s advantage in clean energy.
China accounts for more than 70% of global electric vehicle production.
Trump’s strategy leans more toward fossil fuels than renewable energy.
The US-Israel-Iran war has sent oil prices soaring, sparking a new round of EV buying across the Asia-Pacific region and boosting demand for BYD.
High oil costs are driving a surge in demand for new energy storage equipment, including solar panels.
Deep Throat
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
