About the Book

China’s rise as a global power has often been assumed to unfold within the international order created and maintained by the West. As a result, much attention has been focused on its challenge to the liberal institutional order established after the Second World War — particularly as China has sought influence within these institutions in line with its growing global stature.

However, far less attention has been paid to the phenomenon of Sino-centric multilateralism — the emergence of new multilateral formats initiated by China or operating largely outside the reach of the liberal order. These initiatives often begin as summits and gradually formalise over time through institutionalisation, or they evolve within forums predominantly composed of Global South countries.

The Dragon’s Emerging Order is the first volume to offer a comprehensive, global stocktake of China’s efforts to enhance its centrality in international relations. It provides clear insights into the struggle for global influence, highlighting the interplay of both hard and soft power. As the liberal order has weakened — particularly during the second Trump administration in the United States — Sino-centric multilateralism becomes increasingly relevant to scholars of global order, illuminating how alternative structures are being constructed to challenge or supplant the existing ones.

With chapters covering every major regional grouping, and in-depth analyses of both China’s actions and the responses of its partner states, this book delivers timely, policy-relevant analysis with far-reaching implications for the development of global and regional orders.

About the Editor

Joel Ng is Senior Fellow and Head of the Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS). His research focuses on regionalism, integration, security, and intervention norms, focusing on ASEAN and its dialogue partners as well as the African Union. He began his career in international affairs working in Uganda on peace, conflict, and refugee issues. He has also worked in the private sector in Singapore in public and investor relations. He is presently in the Singapore committee for the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific (CSCAP). Dr Ng is the author of Contesting Sovereignty: Power and Practice in Africa and Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2021). He has published widely in venues such as International Affairs, Project Syndicate, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He has a DPhil from the University of Oxford, where he was an Oxford-Swire and Tan Kah Kee scholar, and also holds a MA (Distinction) from the University of Sussex, and a BA (Hons) from the University of East Anglia.