Publication

This brief looks at China's 'new silk road' diplomacy which centers around increasing cooperation with its Central and Southeast Asia border states. It argues that the drivers of this diplomacy are largely domestic. They include: the need to preserve stability at its borders and in the western part of the country; the need to secure export markets and energy supplies; the need to develop inland transport routes; and the need to narrow the development gap between the eastern and western parts of China. He also discusses the PRC's foreign policy tools and the implications of these for Chinese-Polish relations.