DIPLOMAȚIA CHINEI ÎN ORIENTUL MIJLOCIU SUB CONDUCEREA LUI XI JINPING: ÎNTRE PRAGMATISM ECONOMIC ȘI AFIRMARE GEOPOLITICĂ
DIPLOMACY OF CHINA IN THE MIDDLE EAST UNDER XI JINPING: BETWEEN ECONOMIC PRAGMATISM AND GEOPOLITICAL AFFIRMATION

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the transformation of China’s policy toward the Middle East during the Xi Jinping era, analyzing how Beijing seeks to balance its economic objectives (energy security, infrastructural connectivity, and the financing of the Belt and Road Initiative) with the ambition to project a more visible diplomatic profile, without assuming direct military commitments. The analysis focuses on three dimensions: (i) the strategic rationale of the Middle East for China; (ii) the mechanisms of influence employed, including differentiated partnerships, multilateral engagement, and selective mediation; and (iii) the effects on regional perceptions and great-power competition. The article concludes that China’s model, grounded in economic interdependence and declaratory neutrality, generates tangible gains in influence, but also creates growing pressures to provide “security goods“, thereby testing the limits of its traditional non-intervention doctrine.

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