Why China supports NDB membership expansion: Going multilateral amid power struggles

Abstract

AbstractThis article aims to detail why China supports the expansion of the NDB membership, arguing that NDB membership expansion is a medium‐term solution to help manage geopolitical rivalry and tensions between state powers in the NDB. The BRICS equality and consensus‐oriented governance arrangements are unique governance features of the NDB, however, Chinese officials have observed that these organizational structures have become the conduits for geopolitical tensions to be transmitted into the functioning of the Bank, specifically as the India‐China tensions, and the growing conflict between Russia and the West. China's strategy is that the addition of more members to the NDB will help to dilute the inter‐state tensions by expanding and diversifying the number of voices at the decision‐making table, as well as the capital contribution base for the Bank, and the scope of potential borrowers. China is pursuing an “increase in multilateralism” to help with managing the inter‐state rivalries that have been transmitted into the Bank, a medium‐term strategy for reducing conflict between the BRICS governments within the NDB, and for maintaining the collective cohesion of the BRICS as a diplomatic grouping.