China’s Strategic Adjustments

After the eighteenth Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, China adjusted its diplomatic strategy and transformed its pattern of economic development. This has had and will continue to have both a positive and a negative impact on the international financial institutions and the regional and global economy. The ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) strategy, combined with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the internationalisation of the yuan, is the main focus, and exerts a strong impact on the existing international financial institutions as well as the economic relations between China and many other countries in the world. It has attracted many developed and developing countries to join the AIIB. It also has made many emerging economies become closely linked to China. Moreover, it contributes to the emergence of many ‘asymmetric’ pairs of economic relations between China and its neighbours. China is now connected with Europe through an overland route as well as through the boosting of economic, trade and investment ties between Asia and Europe. Furthermore, while Europe has been concerned about China’s unfair competition and the dependence on Chinese investment, ASEAN has increasingly deepened the mutual economic dependence between itself and Beijing. A negative outcome of this is the rising economic dependence on China of quite a few ASEAN member states, including Vietnam.