西方间的竞争常常用“零和博奕”(zero-sum game)来形容。中国从事玩具或服装等产品的生产，而这类行业在西方已没有经济效益可言。但在其它领域，中国、美国及欧洲在广阔的新兴行业正展开竞争。 这会给各方带来新的挑战。这种竞争正在形成之中，从太阳能电池板和风力轮涡机等绿色技术中可见一斑。
表面看去，太阳能技术市场的状况看似 中国传统战略的重演。以尚德(Suntech)、英利(Yingli)及晶澳太阳能(JA Solar)为首的中国公司，采用老式的太阳能电池板，使用硅片，大幅提高产量。中国目前的硅片产量占全球总产量的三分之一。
在产能上过 度投资，加之硅价较低，使中国制造商在过去一年半中将价格压低了约50%，令欧洲的Q-Cell等无力保持如此低价的西方早期行业龙头受到挤压。
但 采用更先进技术的西方生产商仍找到了方法，通过创新进行竞争。总部位于亚利桑那州的First Solar创新出一种基于碲化镉的薄膜半导体工艺，就其电池板产量而言，与尚德相当。
这种原材料比传统的硅更贵，但First Solar的制造工艺成本很低。这种工艺经进一步开发后，将可能比把太阳能转化为电能的硅更高效。
除技术上的优势之外，First Solar还开始在全球扩张业务。如今，它的研发和试点生产都位于美国，而在马来西亚进行大规模的制造。实际上，该公司正开始进军中国，参与在内蒙古承包 建造全球最大的太阳能发电站（装机容量为200万千瓦，相当于一座大型核电站的发电量），而且还有望在中国开设一家工厂。
此外，还有位于加州的Nanosola，它正在把其新技术带到市场上。Nanosola使用的是基于一种铜化合物的 薄膜。该公司在加州和德国的工厂采用自动生产工艺，事实证明，随着这项技术的完善，有可能成为速度最快、成本最低的技术。除这两家西方竞争者之外，全球还 有很多其他太阳能技术仍在开发阶段。
这就意味着为了在竞争中立于不败之地，中国仅仅有成本优势是不够的。除了尚德，其他中资企业在旧技术 市场上都占有相当的份额，但没有利润来为研发提供资金。与此同时，地方政府补贴和创业资金弥补了资金不足，但这些资金不一定靠得住，足以为高成本的长期研 究提供资金。在这点上，还有个问题是，直到最近之前北京都没有优先考虑太阳能领域的投资，导致中国生产商失去了国内市场。
上述这些因素产 生的后果是，很可能有不止一种太阳能技术会被广泛使用，给国内外制造商都留下生存的空间。即使是在中国国内，关于在新的太阳能项目中是使用美国的薄膜太阳 能电池板还是中国硅片产品，地方政府官员看起来也存在分歧。
风能市场在两方面都显示出不同的挑战和战略。就风能而言，风能是北京优先考虑 的问题，意味着大笔投资和巨大的机会。与此同时，规定要求在每个涡轮机内部要有一定数量的国产部件，另外，对进口产品的征税较高，这给以金风科技 (Goldwind)、华锐风电(Sinovel)和东方电气(Dongfang)为首的国内企业带来了好处。
西方企业确实在质量上有着 很大的优势，这也使它们成了很多省市公共事业公司的首选。不过，关键是要在靠近需求的地方建造涡轮机──这不仅是因为北京的政策，还因为大型涡轮机很难远 距离运输。
按装机容量计算，全球最大的风力涡轮机生产商丹麦的Vestas刚刚在中国东北地区建成了世界上最大的涡轮机制造厂。通用电气 (General Electric)、西门子(Siemens)和西班牙的Gamesa等公司目前也开始在中国进行生产，与中国国有能源企业建立合作关系，以便赢得合同。
与 此同时，中资企业向海外出售低价产品，同时提供更好的技术，藉此保持竞争力。它们向外国公共事业公司提供低成本融资的能力是一种独特的竞争优势。
它 们也在寻求与西方合作伙伴进行先进的研发。华锐风电和东方电气都与美国先进风能系统开发商Windtec有合作关系。2008年，金风科技收购了德国 Vensys公司70%的股权，目前正在考虑在德国设立一家组装厂。
太阳能和风能的例子都与老模式类似──中国低成本优势给西方生产商带 来了压力。不过，关键的不同点在于竞争在技术生命周期的更早阶段就开始了，尽管中国无需进行赶超，外国跨国公司也不需要遭受长期的成本劣势。随着中国越来 越多地参与更尖端领域的竞争，预计这种新的模式将会反复出现。
Competition between the West and China is often couched in terms of a zero-sum game -- China 'takes' the manufacturing business in products like toys or clothes that the West can no longer do economically. But in other areas, China, the United States and Europe are competing in newer industries where the field is wide open. This poses new challenges for all sides. Green technologies like solar panels and wind turbines offer a glimpse into how this competition is shaping up.
At first glance, the market for solar technologies might look like a replay of China's traditional strategy. Chinese companies, led by Suntech, Yingli, and JA Solar, have latched onto an older form of solar panel, using silicon wafers, and ramped up production. China now produces one-third of the world's silicon wafers.
Overinvestment in capacity, combined with lower silicon prices, has led Chinese manufacturers to push down prices by roughly 50% over the last year and a half. This is squeezing early leaders in the West, like Europe's Q-Cell, which can't keep up with those prices.
But Western producers using more advanced technologies are still finding ways to compete through innovation. Arizona-based First Solar is pioneering a thin film semiconductor process based on cadmium telluride, and in terms of volume of panels shipped is about even with Suntech.
The raw materials are more expensive than the conventional silicon, but First Solar's manufacturing process is cheaper. As it develops, this technology may prove more efficient than silicon at converting the sun's rays into electricity.
Adding to its technological advantage, First Solar is also globalizing its business. It now headquarters its research and development, and pilot production, in the U.S. but does its large-scale manufacturing in Malaysia. Indeed, it is moving into China, contracting to help build the world's largest solar power plant (at two gigawatts, equivalent to the output of a large nuclear plant) in Mongolia and likely putting a factory in China.
Then there's California-based Nanosolar, which is bringing its own new technology to market. Nanosolar uses thin films based on a compound featuring copper. The company employs an automated production process at its plants in California and Germany that could prove to be the fastest and cheapest of all as the technique is refined. And beyond these two Western competitors, there are plenty of other solar technologies still in the development stage around the world.
This means that to keep up with the competition, China's cost advantages won't be enough. Chinese companies, except Suntech, have old-technology market share but no profits to fund R&D. Local government subsidies and venture money plugs the gap in the meantime, but that money isn't necessarily dependable enough to fuel very expensive, long-term research. In this respect, it also matters that Beijing until recently has not prioritized investment in solar energy, leaving Chinese producers without a domestic market.
As a consequence of all these factors, there's the distinct possibility that more than one solar technology will stay in widespread use, leaving space for both Chinese and Western manufacturers to survive. Even within China, local government officials seem divided on whether to use American thin-film panels or Chinese silicon-wafer products in new solar projects.
The wind power market shows different challenges and strategies at work on both sides. In this case, wind is a Beijing priority, meaning large amounts of investment and big opportunities. Meanwhile, regulations requiring a certain amount of locally produced content within each turbine, plus stiffer duties on imports, benefit local companies led by Goldwind, Sinovel and Dongfang.
Western companies do have a strong advantage in their perceived quality, which makes them the preference of many provincial utilities. But the key is to build turbines near the demand -- not just thanks to Beijing's policies but also because large turbines are simply hard to ship long distances.
Denmark's Vestas, the world leader measured by megawatt-generating capacity installed, has just built the world's largest turbine manufacturing complex in northeastern China. General Electric, Siemens and Spain's Gamesa, among others, are now also producing there and partnering with Chinese state-owned energy companies to win contracts.
Meanwhile, the Chinese companies are trying to hold their own through a combination of selling lower-priced goods abroad and offering better technologies. Their ability to offer foreign utilities low-cost financing is a distinct competitive advantage.
They also are pursuing advanced research and development with Western partners. Both Sinovel and Dongfang work with Windtec, a U.S.-owned developer of advanced wind energy systems. In 2008, Goldwind purchased a 70% stake in Vensys of Germany and is considering building an assembly plant there.
The solar and wind case studies are both somewhat similar to the old-style model where China's low-cost advantage puts pressure on Western producers. But the key difference is that the contest started earlier in the lifecycle of the technologies, and while China doesn't have to play catch up, neither do foreign multinationals have to suffer from a permanent cost disadvantage. Expect this new pattern to repeat as China increasingly joins the competition in more cutting-edge fields.