Increased Chinese investment volumes and a growing interdependence of multinational corporations go hand in hand with greater risks. Beijing is adopting various strategies in order to protect its global investments, which in turn increasingly threaten to undermine its self-imposed policy of non-interference.

Driven by a pragmatic foreign policy, as reflected in China maintaining relations with current rulers on the one hand, but also with the opposition on the other – such as in Venezuela – the People’s Republic is attempting to keep all options open and secure its investments in the event of a change of power.

Beijing is playing an increasingly active role in terms of security policy, and especially when it comes to securing its foreign investments. Hence, Beijing is continually expanding its involvement in UN peacekeeping missions, scaling up its military presence, supplying weapons and increasingly using private security firms.

The success of the Belt and Road Initiative is of central importance for realising the “Chinese dream” and legitimising the CCP as a guarantor for prosperity and security.