Pekingology

In this episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Steve Tsang, Director of the SOAS China Institute and co-author of the new book China’s Global Strategy under Xi Jinping, to discuss China’s ambitions under Xi Jinping and the ideas shaping Beijing’s approach to the world.

They discuss the importance of Xi’s personal worldview in understanding Chinese foreign policy, how his consolidation of power has changed foreign policy decisionmaking, and the role of regime security, ideology, and nationalism in shaping China’s national interests. The conversation also explores why China’s vision for a new international order is inherently global, how the Global South concept has become central to China’s broader ideological ambitions and engagement with the world, and how Xi’s recent focus on economic and technological power supports China’s pursuit of global preeminence.

In this episode of Pekingology, Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Ambassador Daniel Kritenbrink, former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S. Ambassador to Vietnam, and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, to discuss U.S.-China diplomacy and the upcoming meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Drawing on decades of experience engaging with senior Chinese officials, including Xi Jinping, Kritenbrink reflects on Xi’s leadership style and China’s increasingly confident approach to the United States and the international system. He discusses the role of leader-level diplomacy in managing U.S.-China competition, lessons he learned from preparing for Xi’s 2015 state visit to Washington, and what effective communication between Washington and Beijing looks like behind closed doors.

They also examine what to expect from the Trump-Xi summit, the prospects for maintaining what Kritenbrink describes as a “fragile truce” between the two countries, and the economic, technological, and security issues that will continue to test U.S.-China relations.

In this episode of Pekingology, Henrietta Levin, Senior Fellow with the CSIS Freeman Chair in China Studies, is joined by Kurt Campbell, former Deputy Secretary of State and President Biden’s “Asia Czar.” He is currently Chairman of The Asia Group and Distinguished Fellow in Diplomacy with the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. Henrietta and Kurt discuss how Beijing views American power, the development of U.S. strategy towards China, U.S.-China diplomacy and the characters that sat on the Chinese side of the table, and more.

To learn more about Kurt Campbell’s perspectives on China, you can read his April 2025 Foreign Affairs article, co-authored with Rush Doshi, ⁠Underestimating China: Why America Needs a New Strategy of Allied Scale to Offset Beijing’s Enduring Advantages⁠, and his 2016 book, ⁠The Pivot: The Future of American Statecraft in Asia⁠.

Founded in 2001 by China, Russia, and key Central Asian states, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) marks its 25th anniversary this year. With Chinese President Xi Jinping expected to attend the SCO Leaders' Summit in Kyrgyzstan later this month, the organization has become an increasingly important platform for advancing Beijing's vision of a multipolar international order as China's economic, political, and security influence across Central Asia continues to grow.

In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Bradley Jardine, co-author of the new book, Backlash: China’s Struggle for Influence in Central Asia. Henrietta and Bradley unpack China's goals for the upcoming SCO summit, as well as China's long history in Central Asia. They discuss Beijing's use of Silk Road narratives to frame its contemporary engagement with Central Asia, Chinese leaders' top priorities in the region - from border security, to energy resilience, to construction of an increasingly Sinocentric regional architecture - how Central Asian governments quietly manage tensions over repression in Xinjiang, and whether the "debt diplomacy" narrative holds up. They also explore the collision of Chinese and Russian interests in Central Asia, and how the SCO became a leading component of the new international order China is working to build.

China is generating groundbreaking advances in electric vehicles, battery technology, applied artificial intelligence, and industrial robotics. Yet Chinese households are facing stagnant wages, consumption is weak, and public confidence in the economy appears to be declining. In this episode of Pekingology, CSIS Senior Fellow Henrietta Levin is joined by Alicia García-Herrero, a leading expert on Chinese economics, to unpack China's "dual economy." They discuss why President Xi has prioritized global technological leadership over economic opportunity at home, why many of China's most successful companies struggle to turn a profit, and whether rapid AI adoption will boost growth or imperil social stability.

To learn more, read Alicia García-Herrero's recent article in China Leadership Monitor, "China's Dual Economy: When Strategic Ambition Hollows Out the Foundation."