This introduction presents an overview of a key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book attempts to analyse tendencies in China's domestic governance and reform processes as well as the European Union's (EU's) influence on them. Furthermore, it links up the domestic governance tendencies to recurrent issues of global governance and examines cases of EU–China cooperation/competition in global economic governance, as well as regional governance and development in Asia and Africa. The book examines 'soft legal transplants' in EU–China relations. It argues that European continental legal systems have served as a premier source of inspiration in that process of soft legal transplants. The book discusses the hierarchical structure of the Chinese party-state with regard to central steering capacities and local leeway and asks how the local level reacts to different challenges and through this contributes to regime stability.