Economic Statecraft with Chinese Characteristics: Strange, New, and Different, or Old Wine in New Bottles?

Abstract

The term “economic statecraft” is increasingly employed to describe China's use of economic resources to pursue objectives spanning the political, economic, and strategic spheres. One recent study suggests that “China's sophisticated use of economics in its foreign policy is still a fairly recent phenomenon.” Yet close scrutiny of how since at least the early 1900s Chinese leaders sought to use economic leverage as a foreign policy instrument suggests that the antecedents of contemporary Chinese economic statecraft date back to the founding of the People's Republic of China and even before. This special issue represents an effort to explore in some depth in what ways post-Cold War Chinese economic statecraft does indeed represent a novel phenomenon, as opposed to the simple continuation of earlier trends; to identify its most important features and follow its evolution over time; and to investigate in detail several specific recent case studies.

Geopolitics and Geoeconomics in the China–Latin American Relations in the Context of the US–China Trade War and the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…This Special Issue is the third of Special Issues published by the Journal of Current Chinese Affairs in the last two years that address the effects of Chinese economic statecraft in-depth (i.e. the issue “The Regional Impacts of China's Belt and Road Initiative” guest-edited by Jeremy Garlick in 2020; and the issue “PRC Economic Statecraft Explored: How Uniquely Chinese Are Its Characteristics?” guest-edited by Priscilla Roberts in 2021). This particular Special Issue, which focuses on Latin America, is organised following a general to particular logic.…”