Chinese food (depending on which type it is) uses fresh AND dried chilis. They also use chili pastes as the base for some sauces. If you are talking Szechuan cooking, then it`s all different and hotter, including Szechuan peppercorns (which are awesome).
Often takeouts use easy to get small dried peppers, like dried japones, serranos etc. They are toasted first to release more of the aromatic flavors.