China's Subnational Foreign Policymaking

Although China is a relative late comer to the practice of subnational foreign relations, it has quickly become an enthusiastic proponent of the practice. Since the first subnational agreement between Tianjin and Kobe in 1973, there are now thousands of subnational dyads being developed by Chinese provinces, cities, counties, townships and villages. The purpose of this chapter is to identify the key aspects of China’s subnational engagements – both in policy/administrative terms as well as how they are operationally expressed. In doing so, the chapter illuminates common patterns in the behavior of Chinese subnational authorities as they develop transnational partnerships below and away from the state’s immediate purview. This paper analyzes two sets of relations – between Chinese and Japanese dyads and between Chinese and Indian dyads. The Japanese case is used because it represents the oldest set of subnational dyads that China has pursued. In contrast, the set of Indian subnational ties are the latest set of dyads to have been created. These two cases highlight an underexplored policy continuity in China’s international relations, given the otherwise difficult national-level ties between these countries. After these relations are reviewed, the chapter explores some of the issues arising from China’s subnational engagements, before concluding. © 2025 selection and editorial matter, Maximilian Mayer, Emilian Kavalski, Marina Rudyak and Xin Zhang; individual chapters, the contributors. All rights reserved.