Skip to main content
A general view shows delegates attending the closing session of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at the Great Hall of the People, in Beijing, China October 24, 2017.  REUTERS/Jason Lee - RC1E687E4920

Global China: Domestic politics and foreign policy

Learn more about Global ChinaHow do President Xi Jinping’s personal ambitions and the ascendance of the Chinese Communist Party affect China’s approach to foreign policy?

This installment of the Brookings Foreign Policy series “Global China: Assessing China’s Growing Role in the World” helps illuminate China’s domestic trends in law and leadership politics that may inform China’s trajectory.

The Chinese Communist Party maintains a dual state and legal system, under which most Chinese people generally enjoy the protection of an increasingly sophisticated body of law. But the party’s resort to extra-legal means in dealing with perceived enemies creates uncertainty over the reliability of the party-state’s legal commitments both at home and abroad.

Xi Jinping’s handling of economic policy and U.S.-China relations poses real risks for his domestic standing, argues George Yin.

China has been aggressively consolidating control over contested territories in the South and East China seas since at least 2006—well before Xi Jinping took power, writes Andrew Chubb.

China seeks to influence developing countries across the globe, in part because of the Chinese Communist Party’s longstanding obsession with preserving its rule, according to David Shullman.

Chinese economic statecraft like the Belt and Road Initiative is sometimes effective, sometimes not, argues Audrye Wong.

Under Xi Jinping, China has increased its regional security engagement—Abigail Grace explains what is behind it and what it means.

Get daily updates from Brookings