But in industries including smartphones, drones and electric vehicles, Chinese companies are gaining ground — or already are far ahead.
China owes its rise to a variety of factors: a skilled and lower-cost workforce, huge government subsidies that have pushed Western rivals out of business, and, unlike many U.S. investors, a willingness to finance expensive manufacturing sectors that sometimes yield lower profits than software ventures do.
Alarmed by the mounting competition, the Biden administration and many members of Congress have called for more government support for domestic research and manufacturing. Even some Republicans have softened their free-market convictions to embrace more government intervention to bolster strategic sectors such as semiconductors, an approach known as industrial policy.
These nine charts illustrate the massive strides Chinese companies have made in many areas and the sectors where U.S. firms still dominate.