With the Biden administration in the US introducing tariffs on Chinese clean energy and electric vehicle (EV) goods and components, and the European Union (EU) also imposing duties on electric vehicles because of Chinese state support for these industries, the narrative around China’s dominance in clean energy manufacturing is fixated on the uneven playing field afforded by government largesse. Such narratives are simplistic and underplay the complex combination of factors that have led to China’s rise in cleantech as a dominant producer.