Global Chinese Initiatives and the emerging place of China in the international legal order

China plays an increasingly significant role in global affairs, rebalancing the international political and economic order and promoting a shift in global power to the East. At the same time, along with its development reorientation, China has been attempting to establish itself as an active shaper of global legal governance. This paper presents the results of a non-doctrinal study on the legal dimension of the four global Chinese initiatives (namely, the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, and the Global Civilization Initiative, plus the concept of “Community of Shared Future for Mankind”) within a broader framework of China’s changing role in the international legal order. The paper concludes with the place of the four initiatives in transforming Chinese approaches to law in foreign policy and claims that the new initiatives enhance China’s potential to promote its legal vision in the developing world.