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

How do President Xi Jinping’s personal ambitions and the ascendance of the Chinese Communist Party affect China’s approach to foreign policy?

Global China: Domestic politics and foreign policy

Authors: Tarun Chhabra, Ryan Hass

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.

Xi Jinping's “Proregress”: Domestic moves toward a global China

Authors: Cheng Li

Making sense of the prospects for a global China requires understanding Xi Jinping’s domestic political standing and policy priorities.

Party leadership and rule of law in the Xi Jinping era

Authors: Jamie P. Horsley

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.

Hu’s to blame for China’s foreign assertiveness?

Authors: Rush Doshi

Rush Doshi argues that China has a longstanding commitment to its current assertive path — and that it did not start with Xi Jinping.

Elite politics and foreign policy in China from Mao to Xi

Authors: Joseph Torigian

Joseph Torigian explains how Xi Jinping has consolidated power over Chinese foreign policy.

Domestic repression and international aggression? Why Xi is uninterested in diversionary conflict

Authors: George Yin

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

Diversionary aggression in Chinese foreign policy

Authors: Erin Baggott Carter

Erin Baggott Carter contends that there is strong evidence that Xi Jinping could respond to challenges from within through diversions abroad.

Xi Jinping and China’s maritime policy

Authors: Andrew Chubb

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.

Protect the Party: China’s growing influence in the developing world

Authors: David O. Shullman

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.

China’s economic statecraft under Xi Jinping

Authors: Audrye Wong

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

Chinese non-military coercion — Tactics and rationale

Authors: Ketian Vivian Zhang

Ketian Vivian Zhang details how China uses non-military coercion to pressure other countries.

Comprehensive national power with Chinese characteristics: Regional security partnerships in the Xi era

Authors: Abigail Grace

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