ABSTRACT
China's impressive economic development in recent decades has provoked a lot of attention worldwide, yet China remains unknown to international audiences, potentially leading to various misunderstandings. Although the numbers paint an astonishing picture of China's rise, there are also limitations to its power. China still lags significantly behind the United States – and may never become equal in terms of international power and influence. Some of the main limitations to China's power are the inherent instability of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime, mounting domestic challenges (such as demographic crises and questionable economic prospects), and a lack of solid international partners. This introductory chapter sums up the main themes of the book to argue that China is still short of being classified as a full-fledged superpower – and the challenges it faces might prevent it from becoming one in the future.
