Chinese foreign policy making

China’s reform and opening also have an impact on Chinese foreign policy making because China has increasingly integrated into the world, the economy is more market and outward oriented, society is more pluralistic, and the political structure is more professionalized and specialized. Most significantly, with China transitioning from the older generation to the younger generation leadership—moving through the eras of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping, Jiang Zemin, and Hu Jintao, some changes have taken place in the foreign policy-making process. The most significant change is the shift from the “strong man” model to the “collective leadership” in which foreign policy issues are handled differently. The second trend is an increased role and influence of the bureaucracy, institutions, and organizations as well as an increased informal influence of individuals (e.g., experts and scholars), groups (e.g., NGOs and think-tanks), and localities (e.g., provincial and corporate influence) in the Chinese foreign policy-making process. With China’s integration into the world, some decisions in the arenas of foreign trade and international cooperation have been decentralized to lower level party–state institutions. However, as David M. Lampton points out, on the other hand, foreign policy making also shows continuity with the era of Mao, with important and strategic decisions made only by the few top leaders of the Politburo,¹ and major decisions in foreign affairs and foreign and security strategy and policy issues are still highly centralized.