Foreign relations

Main article: Foreign relations of China

Diplomatic relations of China

The PRC has diplomatic relations with 179 United Nation members states and
maintains embassies in 174. Since 2019, China has the largest diplomatic network in
the world.[214][215] In 1971, the PRC replaced the Republic of China (ROC) as the sole
representative of China in the United Nations and as one of the five permanent
members of the United Nations Security Council.[216] It is a member of
intergovernmental organizations including the G20,[217] the SCO,[218] the East Asia
Summit,[219] and the APEC.[220] China was also a former member and leader of
the Non-Aligned Movement, and still considers itself an advocate for developing
countries.[221] Along with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa, China is a member of
the BRICS group of emerging major economies and hosted the group's third official
summitin April 2011.[222]

The PRC officially maintains the one-China principle, which holds the view that there
is only one sovereign state in the name of China, represented by the PRC, and that
Taiwan is part of that China.[223] The unique status of Taiwan has led to countries
recognizing the PRC to maintain unique "one-China policies" that differ from each
other; some countries explicitly recognize the PRC's claim over Taiwan, while others,
including the US and Japan, only acknowledge the claim.[223] Chinese officials have
protested on numerous occasions when foreign countries have made diplomatic
overtures to Taiwan,[224] especially in the matter of armament sales.[225] Most countries
have switched recognition from the ROC to the PRC since the latter replaced the
former in the United Nations in 1971.[226]

Much of current Chinese foreign policy is reportedly based on Premier Zhou

Enlai's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, and is also driven by the concept of
"harmony without uniformity", which encourages diplomatic relations between states
despite ideological differences.[227] This policy may have led China to support or
maintain close ties with states that are regarded as dangerous and repressive by
Western nations, such as Sudan,[228] North Korea and Iran.[229] China's close
relationship with Myanmar has involved both support for its ruling governments as
well as for its ethnic rebel groups,[230] including the Arakan Army.[231] China has a close
political, economic and military relationship with Russia,[232] and the two states often
vote in unison in the United Nations Security Council.[233][234][235]

Trade relations
 On 21 May 2014, China and Russia signed a $400
billion gas deal. Currently, Russia is supplying natural gas to China.
China became the world's largest trading nation in 2013 by the sum of imports and
exports, as well as the world's largest commodity importer, comprising roughly 45%
of maritime's dry-bulk market.[236][237] By 2016, China was the largest trading partner of
124 other countries.[238] China is the largest trading partner for the ASEAN nations,
with a total trade value of $669.2 billion in 2021 accounting for 20% of ASEAN's total
trade.[239] ASEAN is also China's largest trading partner.[240] In 2020, China became the
largest trading partner of the European Union for goods, with the total value of goods
trade reaching nearly $700 billion.[241] China, along with ASEAN, Japan, South Korea,
Australia and New Zealand, is a member of the Regional Comprehensive Economic
Partnership, the world's largest free-trade area covering 30% of the world's
population and economic output.[242] China became a member of the World Trade
Organization (WTO) in 2001. In 2004, it proposed an entirely new East Asia
Summit (EAS) framework as a forum for regional security issues.[243] The EAS, which
includes ASEAN Plus Three, India, Australia and New Zealand, held its inaugural
summit in 2005.[244]

China has had a long and complex trade relationship with the United States. In 2000,
the United States Congress approved "permanent normal trade relations" (PNTR)
with China, allowing Chinese exports in at the same low tariffs as goods from most
other countries.[245] China has a significant trade surplus with the United States, one of
its most important export markets.[246] Economists have argued that the renminbi is
undervalued, due to currency intervention from the Chinese government, giving
China an unfair trade advantage.[247] The US government has also alleged that China
does not respect intellectual property (IP) rights and steals IP through espionage
operations,[248] with the US Department of Justice saying that 80% of all the
prosecutions related to economic espionage it brings were about conduct to benefit
the Chinese state.[249]

Since the early 200s, China has followed a policy of engaging with African nations for
trade and bilateral co-operation;[250][251][252] in 2022, Sino-African trade totalled $282
billion, having grown more than 20 times over two decades.[253] According to Madison
Condon "China finances more infrastructure projects in Africa than the World Bank
and provides billions of dollars in low-interest loans to the continent's emerging
economies."[254] China maintains extensive and highly diversified trade links with the
European Union, and became its largest trading partner for goods, with the total
value of goods trade reaching nearly $700 billion.[241] China has furthermore
strengthened its trade ties with major South American economies,[255] and is the
largest trading partner of Brazil, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, and several others.
[256]
In 2013, China initiated the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a large global infrastructure
building initiative with funding on the order of $50–100 billion per year.[257] BRI could
be one of the largest development plans in modern history.[258] It has expanded
significantly over the last six years and, as of April 2020, includes 138 countries and
30 international organizations. In addition to intensifying foreign policy relations, the
focus is particularly on building efficient transport routes, especially the maritime Silk
Road with its connections to East Africa and Europe. However many loans made
under the program are unsustainable and China has faced a number of calls for debt
relief from debtor nations.[259][260]