This excellent book offers an outstanding overview of China's international relations, going beyond conventional analyses of its 'peaceful rise.' Heilmann and Schmidt thoughtfully examine a huge amount of information on China's foreign economic and security policy, challenging the 'Cold War-era mentality' of the Western academic literature on China's foreign relations. The book shows that instead of becoming a market-based, democratic power, tightly integrated in the Western-dominated global order, China is challenging this order with its own concepts of order, even if it engages in substantive cooperation with the US and the EU. The first part examines China's foreign policy objectives, the foreign policy decision-making process, the changes in China's foreign policy after the adoption of structural economic reforms in 1979, China's security, environmental, and international human rights policy, and its spectacular rise to the top level of the global economy in less than 30 years. The second discusses the potential for armed conflict over the status of Taiwan, and China's relations with Japan, North and South Korea, the US, and the EU. . . .Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate, graduate, and research collections.

Choice Reviews

Heilmann and Schmidt’s clear and objective style makes this book indeed a welcome addition to a literature where authors often tend to make sweeping judgments and where the global economy is presented as a zero-sum game. The book provides a concise and comprehensive overview of China’s international relations that is accessible to non-expert readers. It covers an impressive scope of topics ranging from traditional foreign policy issues over security policy and international economic relations to the challenges of climate change. . . . The individual chapters can be read independently, making the book a useful handbook on the issues concerned. . . .Yet even though China continues to change rapidly, Heilmann and Schmidt ably identify and describe the long-term trends in China’s foreign political and economic relations, and that makes the book more than a mere snapshot. The authors clearly know what they are writing about and present a balanced assessment of the state of China’s foreign affairs. Overall, this is an excellent reading to familiarize oneself with the major trends in China’s foreign political and economic relations. The book provides a wealth of information and references that will make it a worthwhile read also for those who consider themselves ‘China experts.’

China Quarterly

A timely book presenting a uniquely European perspective on its subject, China's Foreign and Economic Relations is a must-read for experts and non-experts alike.

Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

This superb review of China’s international relations and policy has astonishing breadth, covering security and economic dimensions as well as traditional foreign policy issues. The authors have packed in an enormous amount of material, and they do not pull any punches. The book presents the full scope of China’s rise and global ambitions, backed up with abundant documentation, in a clear and objective style that leaves readers free to draw their own conclusions. At the same time, the authors provide many fresh and unique insights into Chinese behavior and impacts. Accessible to those seeking an introduction to Chinese international policy, this volume will provide something new to even the most experienced reader.

Barry Naughton, University of California, San Diego