SHANGHAI—Two of the world's leading battery developers are locked in a technological race that has brought the charging time for an electric vehicle to just five minutes—about the amount of time it takes to refuel a traditional gasoline-powered car.

And, in a twist with geopolitical ramifications, both of the technological leaders are Chinese. It is a show of prowess that underscores just how far China has extended its global dominance over next-generation technologies, in some cases leaving the U.S. years behind.

The claimed leap forward on EV batteries is merely the latest technological feat for a country that has stunned Western governments with a string of breakthroughs on artificial intelligence, semiconductors and EVs—a vindication of leader Xi Jinping's ambitions of turning China into a global technological powerhouse.

Contemporary Amperex Technology 300750 1.15%increase; green up pointing triangle, the world's biggest automotive battery maker, said this week on the sidelines of Auto Shanghai, China's biggest auto show, that it has developed a new fast-charging system that, within five minutes, can power a car for 320 miles of driving. By getting the charging time down to roughly the same time as it takes to refuel a gasoline-powered car, the Ningde, China-based company, known as CATL, appears to have further eroded a major obstacle to wider EV adoption.