Area Development
If the United States and China are in competition when it comes to cleantech, then China has a solid start, PwC says. In 2006, China created a "Five-Year Plan" that outlined national cleantech policies, such as greenhouse gas reduction targets and renewable energy adoption mandates. The plan aimed for renewable energy to encompass 15 percent of the country's total energy mix, and reduce greenhouse gases by 20 percent by 2020. Some estimates put China's cleantech market at up to $1 trillion by 2013.

In the United States, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act earmarked $83 billion for cleantech development and implementation. But China has taken the lead in the cleantech sector. In 2009, the year the Recovery Act was passed, China invested $34.5 billion in clean technologies, compared to $18.6 billion invested in the United States. And while American government policy makers deliberate a carbon trading system, China is already prepared to launch a market-based carbon trading plan during its next "Five-Year Plan," which spans 2011 to 2015.