Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
China’s global footprint has expanded exponentially in recent years, becoming a source of investment for countries around the world. But notably, many nations have struggled to grapple with the accompanying implications and political risks.
Experts weigh in on whether the United States is too hostile toward China.
Chinese firms are adapting to an ever-changing business environment as Central Asian leaders and citizens demand more local job creation, value-added industry, and opportunities for skills and advancement.
Chinese leaders know that they want to discontinue the country’s existing growth model, but they haven’t yet landed on what the sustainable alternatives are. Beijing’s new common prosperity policy will only help shift domestic demand at the margins, but a full-fledged rebalancing will require a more radical transformation.
China’s presence has brought socioeconomic opportunities to Georgia, Greece, Hungary, and Romania. Yet it has exacerbated governance shortfalls, undermined elements of political and economic stability, and complicated the European Union’s ability to reach consensus on key issues.
Bangladesh, Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka showcase the diversity of China’s engagement strategies in a very multidimensional region but also make clear that influencers across South Asia are learning from each other’s experiences with Chinese money and power.
Beijing is pursuing alternative cross-border payments channels built upon central bank digital currencies as a way to erode the dominance of existing arrangements that rely heavily on the U.S. dollar and U.S.-regulated entities.
Chinese mining conglomerates sought to adapt to local conditions by forging alliances with the Ecuadorian national government. But these Chinese efforts to leverage local players undercut and divided Indigenous opposition in unsustainable ways that have backfired.
The impact of Evergrande has caused financial distress to spread faster and more forcefully than Beijing’s financial regulators expected, putting pressure on them to move quickly to stop the contagion. But they cannot rescue Evergrande’s creditors without also undermining their fight against bad debt.
The U.S.-China trade war hasn’t brought major economic wins to either country. For the United States, it may be time to focus on economic policy at home first.