China’s Push Toward Global Preeminence: Xi’s “Great Rejuvenation” And Its Connection To A New Silk Road (IF3608)

China’s “new normal” seems to be less dynamic than the wondrous spurts of growth that it experienced in the past. But China’s new strategic push seems to be much more dynamic than the “harmonic rise” advocated by past Chinese leaders. Essentially, current leader Xi Jinping has set a course to make China preeminent among the nations of the world. He has started this push by seeking superior status in: (1) trade; (2) global finance; (3) new market development; and (4) international infrastructure build-out. This strategy is exemplified in the New Silk Road project, which is actually two extensive undertakings, one being an overland trading route (the Silk Road Economic Belt) and the other being a sea route (the Twenty-First-Century Maritime Silk Road), which together go by the shorthand name One Belt, One Road. Beijing is moving unusually fast to get these projects going, perhaps because it sees the internationalization of China’s capabilities as critical to supporting any kind of sustainable economic growth at home and to spreading the country’s influence globally.