China’s Foreign Ministry: Fit for Purpose in the Era of Xi Jinping, BRI and ‘Major Country Diplomacy with Chinese Characteristics’?

President Xi Jinping has raised the bar in China’s engagement with the world: first, in launching in 2012 the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) as the idiom for intensive eco-political engagement with a wide swathe of states in Asia, Europe and Africa, plus Latin America; and second, in framing heightened global expectations for this self-avowed ‘major country’ that has moved out of the shadow of Deng Xiaoping’s 1989 hide our capacities and bide our time dictum. This places unprecedented demands on the foreign ministry, its diplomatic mission and personnel, and on all the other agencies that make up what we may call the foreign affairs network. The year 2018 has seen several new developments in the institutional structures and the work methods that connect with this enhanced priority to foreign policy implementation. This essay examines the challenges that China currently faces in pursuing its ambitious external objectives, in a fraught international environment and contestation among the world’s leading and emerging powers. Domestic challenges in coordinating actions are visible in BRI projects, which are a high national priority. The Chinese foreign ministry now receives better political support, but it remains unclear if this will suffice in meeting the major challenges they face, both abroad and at home—in working with domestic stakeholders.