How Will China's Rise Impact Global Economic Governance?

How Will China's Rise Impact Global Economic Governance?
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Over the past four decades, China has experienced rapid economic growth, rising from one of the world's poorest nations to the second-largest economy globally. Fueled by trade, foreign investment, and domestic industrialization, China's share of global GDP has climbed from less than 5% in 1980 to over 18% today. Meanwhile, China continues expanding its global influence by financing massive infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa, and Latin America through initiatives like the Belt and Road Initiative. Given the shifts in economic power towards China, the country's relationship with institutions of global governance like the World Trade Organization (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and World Bank warrants examination. As economic power continues moving towards China, it remains unclear whether this will strengthen existing multilateral institutions by incorporating China further or weaken these systems by amplifying differences between Chinese state capitalist preferences and Western free market assumptions. China might pursue inclusive reforms that give more voice to developing countries or more self-interested reforms that mostly benefit itself. China's rise presents both opportunities and challenges for global economic governance. While China has benefitted tremendously from integrating into existing Western-constructed institutions like the WTO and World Bank, its growing power means it will likely push for greater reforms to better reflect its interests – though the extent and shape of these reforms remains uncertain. The essay evaluates China's engagement with existing institutions, potential reforms driven by China, and challenges of integrating China to shed light on future Chinese relations with these institutions and the rest of the world.
China has deeply integrated into global economic governance institutions like the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Bank. This integration has accelerated since China's 2001 entry into the WTO, which proved a major turning point, binding the country into rules-based free trade and turbocharging its trade growth (Rogowsky and Hout, 2023, pp.16-28). As