China's triangular diplomacy: Expanding influence through multilateralism

By Chen Meihua | 2025-08-25

Amid a US retreat from foreign aid, Beijing has ramped up efforts to court its neighbors and expand its influence by integrating development initiatives with multilateral diplomacy.

In June, China and Singapore reached an agreement to establish a "Third Country Training Program" for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Timor-Leste officials as part of their "All-Round High-Quality Future-Oriented Partnership."

That same month, China hosted the first China-Pakistan-Bangladesh Summit, during which the three parties agreed to establish a trilateral cooperation mechanism that encompasses trade, climate change and infrastructure.

China's growing emphasis on triangular cooperation -- a development partnership among at least three actors: two or more developing countries and a developed country or multilateral organization -- reflects strategic recalibration and innovation, the Diplomat reported in July.

Against the backdrop of China-US competition, China's core objectives are, firstly, cementing "ties with regional powerhouses by integrating developmental agendas alongside economic leverage," and secondly, enhancing "China's image as a champion of multilateralism, thereby reshaping global institutions in its favor," according to the report.

Multilateral push

In April, Beijing convened the Central Conference on Work Related to Neighboring Countries, a rare foreign-policy-focused meeting of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s Central Committee, chaired by President Xi Jinping.

The gathering signaled a renewed push to rally regional partners and consolidate China's geopolitical backyard.

A month later, the CCP's International Department hosted dialogues with political parties from Northeast and Southeast Asia.

The goal was to advance multilateral diplomacy and jointly promote regional stability and development by enhancing strategic mutual trust, deepening cooperation and seeking common ground while shelving differences and fostering synergy among regional political parties.

China's triangular cooperation is not limited to sets of three countries.

At the ASEAN-China-Gulf Cooperation Council Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said that the exchange platform was "arguably a major pioneering act in regional economic cooperation" and that cooperation among the three eponymous parties could give rise to a "vibrant economic sphere."

China's cooperation with Gulf states and other regions "builds on the spirit of the Belt and Road Initiative [BRI]," Kristy Tsun-Tzu Hsu, director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, told Focus, a sister publication of Global Watch.

The BRI is a Chinese project to build global infrastructure that will ease the export of poor countries' raw materials to China.

The Chinese are busy creating a new platform through trilateral cooperation that gives greater flexibility to countries unwilling to form formal alliances, said Hsu.

China's interests

Regarding China's cooperation with Singapore and Timor-Leste, Hsu noted that China already has considerable influence in Timor-Leste.

Now that it is offering capacity-building and training courses to help Timor-Leste join ASEAN later this year, China is expected to further deepen its influence in the region, she said.

"China is rather actively seeking opportunities for cooperation to consolidate its interests," Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore, told Focus.

This type of cooperation may help China extend its influence, but not all such efforts will have that effect, he said.

The BRICS organization, led by China, poses a challenge to the United States by expanding China's influence through its flexible "Plus" mechanism, said Hsu.

BRICS is a multinational trading bloc named for early members Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

For example, BRICS has increased its membership to 10 countries by allowing ASEAN members such as Malaysia and Vietnam to join under the Plus model.

This model "provides a new mode of participation for countries or corporations that are reluctant to join directly but still want to pursue markets," said Hsu.