New Books in Economics Gregory T. Chin and Kevin P. Gallagher, "China and the Global Economic Order" (Cambridge UP, 2025)
Feb 2, 2026
Gregory T. Chin, Associate Professor of Political Economy at York University, discusses his co-authored book on China and the Bretton Woods institutions. He traces China’s shift from rule-taker to rule-shaker and rule-maker. Conversations cover China’s inside-outside strategies, monetary ambitions like the digital RMB, and new development banks’ approaches to infrastructure and green finance.
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Hybrid Inside–Outside Strategy
- China used a hybrid inside-outside strategy to reshape Bretton Woods institutions over decades.
- This 'two-way countervailing power' combined rule-taking, rule-making, and rule-shaking tactics to gain influence.
Selective Status-Quo Integration
- China was largely a status-quo actor in its first two decades inside Bretton Woods while selectively adopting rules.
- It benefited heavily from World Bank and IMF knowledge without fully surrendering state control.
Crises Spark Alternative Institutions
- Crises like the 1997 Asian financial crisis and 2008 global crisis catalyzed China's push to create alternatives.
- Those events exposed disagreements with IMF/World Bank policy prescriptions and spurred rule-making outside Bretton Woods.
