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I grew up in Singapore, so I got familiar with Chinese cooking at an early age. I've studied it now for about 35 years.
Breast meat is used in many dishes. There are a number of appetizers that use it. It's often used in Cantonese main dishes, with some of the milder sauces. Think moo goo gai pan, lemon chicken, etc. The problem with Chinese food in the US is that most of it is the same 50 or 100 dishes that you see everywhere. That's not what the Chinese eat on a daily basis, nor is it representative of their cuisine.
The Chinese had to use it. All chickens come with breasts and the Chinese throw nothing away. You can say that about all the other cultures out there, as well. Only in the USA, it seems, do we have "preferences" where we only eat one or the other. Kind of like egg yolks and whites. In America, some people eat one or the other. In the rest of the world, they just eat eggs.
I normally eat thigh meat (and wings!) I usually reserve chicken breasts for French dishes, like what you might find in Provence.
JR
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