Silk globalisation. China’s vision of international order

The New Silk Road is China’s main foreign policy project, devised under Xi Jinping. Beijng is striving to build up durable influence in the states in its neighbourhood. At the same time, China’s view of the international order is characterised by a non-confrontational understanding of influence. China does not intend to build its own closed regional bloc, but is rather trying to push through its own vision of globalisation for Asia, Europe and Africa. China is trying to merge its traditional way of thinking about the external world (Sinocentrism, and a preference for bilateral relations with weaker states) with Western formats for multilateral cooperation such as development banks and international organisations. While trying to purse China’s ambitions resulting from its rise as a global power, the Chinese elites nevertheless fear taking over leadership in the region and assuming responsibility for the same.