People's Daily Sharp Commentary: A Closer Look at the Two Sessions Hot Word "New Infrastructure" — The End of AI is Electricity, and the End of Electricity is China

This year’s government work report first proposed “creating a new form of intelligent economy,” including “implementing ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters, collaborative computing and other new infrastructure projects.” This brings endless imagination and solid support for the new leap in economic and social development.

By viewing the deployment in the government work report alongside two recent events, we can better understand China’s advantages.

First, power equipment manufacturers in Guangdong, Jiangsu, and other regions are operating at full capacity. As global demand for computing power rapidly increases and countries expand data centers, China’s overseas orders for electrical equipment are booming, aligning with the investment community’s saying—“The end of AI is electricity.”

Second, from February 9 to 15 this year, China’s AI model usage reached 4.12 trillion tokens, surpassing the US for the first time. This is because global developers have found that running tasks with Chinese models is much cheaper than using American models.

It is foreseeable that future AI will have explosive demand for electricity. The essence of “Token going overseas” is turning electricity into computing power, and then into intelligence. Whoever has cheap, stable electricity and a quick grid response holds the cost advantage in the AI era. So there’s a saying circulating online: “The end of electricity is China.”

In fact, in terms of AI development support, there is a gap between the US and China. Regarding power infrastructure, the US grid is divided into three nearly independent systems: East, West, and Texas, often suffering from “power can’t be transmitted, shortages can’t be balanced,” with stability, load capacity, and infrastructure speed lagging behind.

On March 4, Wang Jian, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in an interview that building power plants in the US requires starting from basic transformers, “and transformer manufacturing is all in China.”

Therefore, tech giants are already feeling the urgency. Microsoft has had to build gas turbines for power due to grid access delays; Google and nuclear power companies have signed large-scale power purchase agreements… If electricity is still insufficient, the only option is to “make life harder for the people.” The regional power operators in Michigan and Virginia announced that electricity bills for 67 million Americans in their service areas will rise by 20% to 30% in 2026.

An energy system centered on capital, no one is willing to pay for long-term investments. When electricity is scarce, prices rise until consumers can’t afford it, and demand naturally drops. This simple “capital logic” ultimately harms the people.

China is taking a completely different path.

Look at a figure: by 2025, China’s total electricity consumption will exceed 10 trillion kWh, more than twice that of the US; in July and August, the electricity consumption for two consecutive months broke 1 trillion kWh for the first time, setting a world record. There was no power rationing or price hikes.

Why can China do this?

Treat electricity as a public good, emphasizing “inclusive benefit.” Forty-six ultra-high-voltage projects have built major channels for “West-to-East power transmission” and “North-to-South power supply.” The “East Data West Computing” initiative locates data centers in areas rich in green energy, turning wind and solar power in the West into computing power, which then travels globally via optical cables. Meanwhile, breakthroughs in million-kilowatt hydropower stations, advanced nuclear reactors, and heavy-duty gas turbines continue to strengthen the power foundation.

What is truly impressive behind this is not just a single line or power station, but a system capable of mobilizing resources for major projects. The US knows the grid needs upgrading, but market players are unwilling to pay for it or wait for the return on investment.

China adheres to moderate advanced development—building power lines and stations in advance before shortages occur; maintaining a unified national strategy to optimize resource integration.

At the National People’s Congress and the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, many representatives and committee members focused on energy security. Their concern is not just about current tightness but how to ensure sustainable supply over the next ten or twenty years.

Last month, State Grid announced that during the 14th Five-Year Plan, fixed asset investment is expected to reach 4 trillion yuan, a 40% increase over the 13th Five-Year Plan. While others worry about today’s electricity supply, China is already making strategic moves to pave the way for high-quality energy development.

Source: People’s Daily Commentary

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