An Examination of China’s Neomercantilist Geoeconomic Strategy in the Global South, 2000–2021

Since the creation of the People’s Republic of China (PRC, henceforth China) in 1949, the Global South has had an important place in China’s grand strategy of national rejuvenation. Empirically, it is in the twenty-first century that China’s engagement with the Global South has been most robust. Particularly in the economic realm, China has emerged as arguably the most consequential economic partner for the majority of developing countries. A significant aspect of China’s national rejuvenation is its quest to “regain” its former status as the center of global order. This chapter notes that China has utilized a neomercantilist geoeconomic strategy designed to create a hub-and-spoke network of “beneficial dependency” centered around extensive networks of economic partnership agreements which are premised on intensifying economic exchanges between China (hub) and developing countries (spokes). Through this, not only does China satisfy its development needs and address the development needs of developing countries, but it also enhances China’s ability to garner global consent and legitimacy and exercise coercion to attain its six core interests.