China has become a central power in global politics, and as the American newspaper "Foreign Affairs" writes, since 2019, it has surpassed the USA in terms of the size of its diplomatic network, reports Tanjug.
For decades, Washington had the largest such network in the world. Now it has China, which can boast of 276 diplomatic missions - including embassies, consulates and permanent missions to international organizations. The US, on the other hand, has 273 diplomatic missions, the newspaper said.
This change could represent a turning point in the competition between the great powers.
The US once enjoyed global primacy in that area, but now the relationship is equalizing. Thus, Beijing opened five new embassies in the last two years: in Burkina Faso, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Gambia and Sao Tome Principe.
While Beijing and Washington are tied for the number of embassies, China is unsurpassed in terms of the number of consulates in the world - it has 96, while the US has 88.
Embassies reflect political power, and consulates reflect economic power. China's focus on consulates is consistent with its focus on advancing economic diplomacy over traditional diplomacy.
Thus, 41 consulates of China are located in Asia and 28 of them are in Europe.
This is in line with China's Belt and Road infrastructure initiative, which is worth trillions of dollars and aims to better connect China to these regions, according to the American magazine.
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