ABSTRACT

The rise of China within the international system has been heralded as one of the most significant changes in turn-of-the-century global relations. So much has been written and discussed about China’s growth in power over the past half-century, often referred to as a “rise” or an “ascent” from an isolated state to a regional power to a potential great power capable of exerting much influence not only within the Asia-Pacific region but also on an international level. China’s foreign policy expansion under President Xi has taken place in tandem with the rapid development of Chinese economic power, which assumed even greater prominence in the wake of the post-2008 global financial crisis and the announcement in early 2011 that China had overtaken Japan as the second-largest economy in the world, after the United States. Rarely in history has a single state, regardless of size, grown so quickly in so many ways.