After delving into the role of the United States in shaping global dynamics, it’s now time to turn our attention to China—a rising superpower with ambitions that reach far beyond its borders. From a nation scarred by the “Century of Humiliation” to a modern-day economic juggernaut, China’s extraordinary transformation has positioned it as a formidable challenger to American hegemony. Let’s explore how this ancient civilization is rewriting the rules of global power.
Napoleon wanted to conquer the whole of Eurasia. He had plans for Russia, the Middle East, even India. He had plans for every Eurasian region, except one: China. The French Emperor who wrote the history of the 19th century had only one thing to say about China: it was a sleeping dragon that was better not to wake up. History proved him right.
Shortly after the end of China’s “Century of Humiliation”—a period of decline and instability that began with the Opium Wars and ended with Mao’s revolution in 1949—China embarked on a remarkable and unstoppable phase of economic, military, and technological growth. This transformation, unmatched in world history for its duration and impact, reshaped the country into a global powerhouse.
In numbers, that unstoppable and unprecedented economic miracle saw China’s GDP growing by 9.5% per year, on average, between 1978 and 2013. In fact, that miracle led 21st century China to become the United States’ main challenger for world hegemony on global stage and to return to what it used to be across the centuries: the Middle Kingdom, that is, the economic and trading center of the world.
China built its current-day great power status by serving as the factory of globalization for decades, accumulating mammoth amounts of wealth that were later reinvested in increasing prosperity, building infrastructure, and modernizing the army. Step by step, while the US was focused in the War on Terror, China exited underdevelopment by almost eradicating extreme poverty and went to discover the world. But this time Beijing did not order to demolish Zheng He’s re-built massive fleet.
The secret of China’s economic success lies in a combination of state capitalism, Confucian work ethics, multi-year growth plans, and huge investments in massive infrastructure projects mainly funded through the money accumulated over the decades thanks to the trillion-dollar exports to the Western markets. By choosing to maintain a low profile during the Cold War, thus focusing on economic growth, social development and urbanization, China managed to lift hundreds of millions out of poverty and ultimately to position itself as a critical player in global trade during the 1990s.
Helped by the fresh memory of the past, it also avoided to get involved in the costly post-9/11 War on Terror and kept saving, modernizing the military and investing both at home and abroad while the US was spending billions in endless attrition wars, from Iraq to Afghanistan. As a result, today’s China is both an economic powerhouse, whose status is emblematised by the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and the major challenge to American military and diplomatic dominance worldwide, as shown by the arm wrestling in Southeast Asia and by the growing number of Chinese-mediated peace agreements. Last but not least, China’s decision to join forces with Russia starting in the mid-2010s played a fundamental role in escalating tensions with the US and, generally, in worsening the already existing great power competition.
China’s global hegemonic ambitions are undoubtedly emblematised by the world biggest multi-national infrastructure project ever imagined by humankind: the trillion-dollar BRI – which is also present in World Order. Far from being merely building roads, stadiums, and ports, the BRI is about forging long-term relationships with countries around the world, creating a network of allies that support China’s multipolar agenda and in return get investments and can do whatever they want internally without receiving accusations and reprisals. The BRI is about making a world with Chinese characteristics and ultimately overcoming the Western-dominated era.
World Order captures China’s astonishing transformation from a relatively underdeveloped agrarian player to an ever-growing great power able to both challenge the American primacy in a wide range of sectors and willing to use hard power to pursue its foreign policy agenda and subvert the second postwar order. By playing China, you can experience what it looks like to be the leader of an economic giant with both regional and global aspirations that is obliged to cope with a sea-based harsh containment by the world’s only superpower: the United States. To win the game as China, you’ll need to adopt a strategic, chess-like mindset. Its surrounding regions are a complex and delicate landscape, where every move must be carefully thought through before taking action.
Escaping the island chain will be one of the most urgent tasks of China players, who will learn by playing how to master geostrategy, build alliances, and manage overproduction to achieve prosperity, increase wealth and strengthen the military. Mirroring real-world dynamics, China players can also decide whether to team up with Russia against the US-EU duo and set foot in a growingly multipolar world which, from Cuba to Libya, asks for having more economic partners and political points of reference.
World Order couldn’t have been real-life adherent without including China as one of the four playable powers and designing it exactly as it is in real world: a want-to-be global hegemon backed by a powerful economy and an advanced army that, although unable to yet openly challenge the American dominance, is a force to be reckoned with in the Western Pacific, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. Moreover, China can leverage its natural propensity for overproduction to outcompete its rivals and accumulate wealth faster. More wealth translates to more tanks and diplomatic missions. More tanks and diplomatic missions increase the likelihood of winning the battle to reshape the World Order.
As China navigates its complex path toward global dominance, its story is just one chapter in the unfolding narrative of World Order. Ready to step into the shoes of a superpower and shape the future of international relations? Hit “Notify Me” on Kickstarter and be among the first to embark on this grand strategy journey.