ABSTRACT
The chapter focuses on the first constitutive element of a grand strategy, namely, the objectives. In this chapter, the author identifies China’s state and national objectives. The identification of China’s national objectives has been a gradual process. Indeed, China’s objectives have been adjusted and even redefined to reflect the improving prospects and potential of the Chinese economy. This process produced expanded, complex, and even ambitious objectives, since the tenure of President Hu Jintao. Such objectives have finally reached their current stage since Xi Jinping in 2019. Although the process is still ongoing, China’s objectives are defined, complex, and ambitious enough to induce and justify a grand strategic pursuit.
