China leads the world in making solar cells, the key component in solar panels, many of which are exported to the U.S.The buildup of a huge market in China for renewable energy is luring global manufacturers and research teams to China, energy executives say. That’s causing concern in some corners that China – not the U.S. – will emerge as the hub of the new industries, leaving the U.S. as dependent on foreign nations for solar panels, wind turbines and other green-energy equipment and technology as it is on the Mideast for oil.

“The Chinese government has recognized that these industries are the 21st century’s industries of importance, and it wants to be the Silicon Valley of renewables,” says Alan Salzman, CEO of U.S.-based VantagePoint Venture Partners, which specializes in clean energy and clean tech investments.

He says the U.S. hasn’t been as clear or as determined as China, a stance echoed by Energy Secretary Steven Chu in testimony before a Senate committee last month.

While China spends about $9 billion a month on clean energy development, the U.S. “has fallen behind,” Chu said. He noted that the world’s largest turbine-making company is headquartered in Denmark, that 99% of batteries for America’s hybrid cars are made in Japan and that the U.S. has lost most of its solar cell manufacturing industry.

Although Chu said he remained confident that the U.S. can “make up the ground,” China is shaping up as a formidable competitor.

China’s government has set ambitious targets for renewable energy, which is scheduled to account for 15% of its fuel by 2020.

But China is setting itself up to do more than just manufacture components for renewable energy, such as wind and solar. It’s also spending heavily to build its own domestic market as it attempts to battle its greenhouse gas emissions, electrify its nation of 1.3 billion people and curb its massive pollution problem.

Already, China has made rapid gains in building up its domestic renewable-energy industries.

This year, it’s expected to install more new wind-generation capacity than any other country, a spot occupied by the U.S. last year, says the Global Wind Energy Council, a Brussels-based trade association.

By 2013, China is expected to become the world’s biggest producer of wind energy, the council estimates. Recently, it eclipsed everyone in wind-turbine-making capacity, up from “nothing” five years ago, says Steve Sawyer, the trade group’s secretary general.

China is muscling up on solar, too. Within five years, it’s expected to be the No. 1 solar market, says Steven Chan, strategy chief for China’s Suntech Power Holdings, the world’s biggest maker of solar panels. Suntech plans to open its first U.S. manufacturing plant next year in Arizona.

One big reason China can move so fast? Once its central government decides on a policy, it can execute quickly through the nation’s handful of state-owned utilities, Chan says. In the U.S., there are thousands of electric utilities and a barrage of regulatory and environmental hurdles to starting new projects.

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