Bridging Giants: The China-India Rapprochement and the Dawn of Multipolarity

China-India Partnership: Wang Wen on Economic Rise and Multipolar World Order

In the vast tapestry of Eurasian geopolitics, where ancient civilizations collide and converge, the relationship between China and India stands as a pivotal thread—one that could either weave a resilient fabric of multipolarity or unravel into rivalry. On a crisp autumn day in 2025, as the world grapples with the aftershocks of U.S.-led sanctions and faltering unipolar ambitions, Professor Glenn Diesen hosted Professor Wang Wen, Dean of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies at Renmin University of China, for a candid conversation titled “China-India Partnership in New World Order.” Wang, a polymath whose portfolio spans the Silk Road School, China-US People-to-People Exchange Research Center, and advisory roles in green finance and state council research, brought his signature blend of optimism and rigor to the table. Drawing from his recent travels to India and deep dives into bilateral data, Wang didn’t shy away from the asymmetries: India’s GDP lags at just 20% of China’s, its electricity generation at 18%, and its industrial output a mere 10%. Yet, in this disparity lies not despair, but a clarion call for collaboration. As Modi touched down in Qingdao for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in September 2025—his first China visit in seven years—the stage was set for a dialogue that transcends borders, aiming to recast the global system from Washington’s shadow into a symphony of shared futures.

Wang’s analysis begins with a sobering audit of the China-India chasm, a gap that has ballooned since the parity of the 1980s. Back then, both nations hovered around similar economic baselines, their 1.4 billion populations brimming with untapped potential. Fast-forward four decades, and China’s high-speed rail network spans 50,000 kilometers while India’s boasts zero—a stark emblem of divergent paths. Why the divergence? Wang attributes it to three pillars of Chinese success: a robust central government and Communist Party leadership that ensures strategic foresight and execution; enhanced domestic governance fostering national unity, urban safety, low-carbon living, anti-corruption drives, universal education, and poverty eradication; and an evolving openness that magnetizes foreign investment despite geopolitical headwinds. India, by contrast, navigates a kaleidoscope of political parties and administrative hurdles, compounded by persistent challenges in infrastructure and social equity. With 200 million Indians mired in absolute poverty and a 30% illiteracy rate, the road ahead is steep. Yet Wang’s tone is far from patronizing; it’s prophetic. He envisions India surging into the world’s top four economies by 2050—trailing only China, the United States, and Russia—with a unified Europe potentially rounding out the fifth spot if it masters integration and migration.

This prognosis isn’t pie-in-the-sky optimism but a data-driven bet on demographics and reforms. India’s youthful demographic bulge and burgeoning consumer market echo China’s own engines of growth from decades past. If New Delhi emulates Beijing’s playbook—pushing domestic reforms, embracing openness, and tackling poverty head-on—the Eurasian giants could harmonize their interests, pulling smaller regional players into a stable orbit. As Diesen astutely notes, getting the “big pieces” to align eases the puzzle for the rest. But herein lies the rub: The United States, ever vigilant against multipolar drift, has long eyed India as a counterweight, tempting it with alliances to encircle China. The Quad (U.S., India, Japan, Australia) was meant to be that bulwark, yet 2025 reveals its fractures. India rebuffed Washington’s pleas to sever ties with Russia amid the Ukraine proxy war, continuing to snap up discounted oil. Similarly, it diversified away from U.S. pressures to decouple from China, opting instead for pragmatic economic hedging.

Wang’s rebuttal to American exceptionalism is a masterclass in quiet confidence. He drops a “secret” from his research: In the first half of 2025, China’s foreign trade surged 2.9%, outpacing the global average of 1.7%. Washington’s decoupling crusade? A flop. Beijing’s response has been a multifaceted “de-Americanization” strategy, unspooling U.S. dominance across five fronts. First, trade de-dollarization: Exports to the U.S. plummeted from 20% of China’s total in 2018 to 9% in early 2025, even as overall exports ballooned, cementing China’s throne as the world’s top exporter. Second, military and tech self-reliance: The September 2025 Tiananmen Square parade showcased 100% domestically produced weaponry, many eclipsing U.S. counterparts in AI integration and stealth capabilities— a direct riposte to decades of blockades. Third, ideological decoupling: Chinese academia now dissects American shibboleths like “democracy” and “human rights” as hypocritical veneers, fostering an indigenous intellectual framework. Fourth, high-tech autonomy: Firms like DeepSeek, Rokid, and Huawei pioneer AI paths untethered from Silicon Valley. Fifth, educational reorientation: Chinese students in the U.S. halved from 300,000 annually a decade ago to under 100,000, redirecting talent toward domestic innovation.

This pivot has supercharged ties with the Global South. China-Africa, China-Latin America, and China-Middle East relations hit historic highs, while the U.S. retreats from forums like the WHO, Paris Agreement, and UNESCO. “It’s not China isolated by the U.S.,” Wang quips, “but the U.S. isolated by the world.” Enter the China-India thaw: Modi’s Qingdao visit thawed frosty post-2020 border skirmish vibes, signaling that disputes won’t eclipse destiny. With nearly 3 billion people combined, their partnership could upend global equations—fostering trade corridors, joint infrastructure, and tech synergies that dwarf bilateral frictions. Wang stresses the civilizational wisdom both draw upon: Ancient philosophies urging harmony amid diversity. Scholars from both nations now convene with growing confidence, convinced that U.S. meddling can’t fracture this bond.

But the real game-changer? Institutions like BRICS and SCO, which Wang frames as engines of civilizational renaissance. At the BRICS Plus pre-summit in Brazil this May, he outlined three pillars: Magnifying anti-hegemonic forces to recalibrate global power; innovating inter-civilizational dialogue to shatter center-periphery binaries; and redefining development ethics to celebrate modernization’s pluralism—from Indonesia’s archipelago ascent to Nigeria’s resource renaissance. The September 2025 SCO summit in Qingdao amplified this, with Xi Jinping unveiling the Global Governance Initiative—the fourth in a quartet following development, security, and civilization counterparts. These aren’t revolutionary manifestos but reformist blueprints: No hegemony, no cold wars, just multilateralism for “lasting peace, universal security, common prosperity, openness, inclusivity, and a clean, beautiful world.”

Wang’s “six anti-struggles” over the past decade underscore China’s credentials as a builder, not a disruptor. Anti-poverty: Eradicating extreme want for 100 million, hitting UN SDG 2030 a decade early via digital equity—think cashless societies where even street vendors scan QR codes seamlessly. Anti-corruption: Punishing 5 million officials, from slaps on the wrist to executions, outpacing Western “institutionalized” graft. Anti-pollution: Transforming smog-choked skies into ecological havens, making China the Paris Agreement’s star pupil among majors. Anti-blockade: Innovating through U.S. sanctions to lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Anti-crisis: Deflating housing bubbles, slashing local debts, and purifying capital markets for “high-quality” growth—while U.S. whispers of financial meltdowns grow. Anti-hegemony: Championing Belt and Road, global governance reforms, and a “community of shared future.”

These aren’t Soviet echoes or Japan’s 1980s bubble; they’re sustainable strides toward a reformed order. Diesen invokes George Kennan, lamenting post-Cold War squandered chances for benign multipolarity, crushed by zero-sum NATO expansions. Wang concurs: BRICS and SCO transcend 500 years of Western IR dilemmas—what to do when powers rise? War? Hegemony? No—cooperation, trust-building, civilizational dialogue. Rising states from Tanzania to Malaysia aren’t clones of Beijing; they’re diverse modernizers, united against unipolar overreach.

Challenges persist: Border sensitivities, U.S. whispers in New Delhi’s ear, Europe’s sanction flirtations to appease Trump. Yet Wang’s closing optimism resonates: Difficulties fuel progress. As Japan and South Korea quietly reassess U.S. alliances—eyeing win-win China ties—the multipolar mosaic sharpens. Diesen’s hope for positive-sum solutions finds an ally in Wang’s vision: A world led not by Western decline but emerging unity. From Qingdao’s halls to Brasília’s summits, the message is clear—Eurasia’s giants aren’t just harmonizing; they’re harmonizing the globe.

In this flux, China’s evolution—from export-led tiger to AI-green innovator—mirrors the broader shift. A decade ago, Western headlines screamed “China collapse.” Today? Beijing’s cities pulse with safety and convenience, outshining many Western metropolises. Wang’s invite to Diesen for a Beijing lecture underscores the openness: Come see, engage, collaborate. As 2025 unfolds, with trade blooming and institutions maturing, the China-India axis isn’t rivalry’s endgame—it’s multipolarity’s dawn. The unipolar interlude fades; a polycentric era beckons, where civilizations converse, not clash.

Share your thoughts in the comments, and explore more insights on our Journal and Magazine. Please consider becoming a subscriber, thank you:
https://dunapress.org/subscriptions – Follow J&M Duna Press on social media. Join the Oslo Meet by connecting experiences and uniting solutions: https://oslomeet.org