Selective Reshaping: China’s Paradigm Shift in International Economic Governance

Abstract

Differing from a selective adaptation approach towards external norms in its accession to the World Trade Organization, China plays an increasingly proactive role on the international stage, with the Belt and Road Initiative at the center of these activities. How can we understand this new approach by China towards international economic governance? What is responsible for China’s shifting approach, and what are the implications of this shift? The paper presents selective reshaping as a new theoretical framework, and argues first that China is shifting towards the selective reshaping of institutions and rules within the global economic order. Second, perception and conception, complementarity and legitimacy are influencing components that affect selective reshaping, and which manifest substantially differently in this context, when compared with selective adaptation. Third, selective reshaping is likely to transform the institutions and rules within the international economic order, which has profound implications.