China and America are in an undeclared race to be the first to send another person to the moon after the last US mission decades ago.
But even if the US loses, it has changed the context of the “moon wars” with China.
America intends to send astronauts to the Moon in the next few years, with the long-term goal of establishing a permanent base there. As part of its Artemis programme it intends to put a space station, called the Lunar Gateway, in orbit around the Moon to act as a communications hub, science laboratory and short-term living space; it is due to launch in 2024. A series of preparatory robotic missions to the Moon will blast off in 2023.
An extract from the Economist’s The World Ahead 2023
China is not planning or building a Lunar Gateway. It only has plans for a permanent base on the moon.
Thoughts of a Cynical Investor 
I still think it is a great idea if Elon Musk goes to Mars to look for rare earth metals; better than running Twitter into ground