China’s electric power industry, now the world’s largest, displays an unusual mix of impressive achievement and large-scale inefficiency. Rapid accumulation of technical capability has transformed this industry into a major force in global markets for equipment and project management, most notably in the nuclear sector, even as changing demand patterns threaten the finances of major generating companies. The giant ecological footprint of China’s power sector adds urgency to tracking its likely future direction. Looking at electricity can expand insight into China’s overall economic circumstances, which display the identical combination of technical prowess, institutional weakness, financial uncertainty, international market penetration and environmental impact found in the power sector.