Financial security has become an indispensable part of China’s national security discourse since the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Rising geopolitical tensions with the US since 2018 and the West’s financial sanctions against Russia have further incentivised Chinese policy-makers to fortify the economy by diluting the dollar’s centrality and developing an alternative system. To this end, the Chinese government has pursued three primary strategies. First, China has supported and promoted regional and multilateral currency and financial co-operation through regional or non-western partnerships. In 2000, it supported the ... (full story)