Chinese Paradiplomacy: A Theoretical Review

Abstract

This article presents a review of the theoretical and empirical studies of paradiplomacy produced to date, focusing on the literature on subnational diplomacy in China, specifically. It argues that the analytical frameworks of previous paradiplomacy studies lead their focus to be restricted to a very limited aspect of the phenomenon only. Moreover, previous studies focusing on the engagement of Chinese provinces in world politics mainly relied on the central-provincial frameworks and susceptible to a geographic bias. This article contributes to the existing literature in two ways: first, by improving the existing framework to better reflect the most essential dimensions of the international actorness of subnational actors and second, by expanding the geographical scope of the study of paradiplomacy to include more non-Western, centralized political system. It presents one of the first academic attempts to systematically review the existing literature regarding paradiplomatic theory and the paradiplomatic activities in China.