Yong Deng is Professor of Political Science at U.S. Naval Academy and recently held visiting positions at University of Hong Kong, the Nobel Institute, and Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is author and co-editor of four previous books on Chinese foreign relations and Asian international relations, including China's Struggle for Status (Cambridge, 2008).

'Professor Yong Deng presents a comprehensive, careful, and well-researched analysis of China's external policy over the past twenty years. He highlights the subtle but strategic shift in China's pursuit of 'strategic opportunity,' from the pursuit of China's development within an accepted political economic framework to, under Xi Jinping, active involvement in reshaping regional and global configurations.' Brantly Womack, Professor Emeritus of Politics, University of Virginia

• Preface; 1. Strategic opportunity and China's foreign policy; 2. The onset of great-power competition; 3. Credibility of the belt and road initiative; 4. Economic statecraft; 5. Institutional tactics; 6. Multipolarity and EU; 7. Conclusion.

Yong Deng is Professor of Political Science at U.S. Naval Academy and recently held visiting positions at University of Hong Kong, the Nobel Institute, and Rajaratnam School of International Studies. He is author and co-editor of four previous books on Chinese foreign relations and Asian international relations, including China's Struggle for Status (Cambridge, 2008).

'Professor Yong Deng presents a comprehensive, careful, and well-researched analysis of China's external policy over the past twenty years. He highlights the subtle but strategic shift in China's pursuit of 'strategic opportunity,' from the pursuit of China's development within an accepted political economic framework to, under Xi Jinping, active involvement in reshaping regional and global configurations.' Brantly Womack, Professor Emeritus of Politics, University of Virginia

• Preface; 1. Strategic opportunity and China's foreign policy; 2. The onset of great-power competition; 3. Credibility of the belt and road initiative; 4. Economic statecraft; 5. Institutional tactics; 6. Multipolarity and EU; 7. Conclusion.