📌 What This Paper Examines

This paper spotlights a largely overlooked actor in China’s external relations: the International Department of the Communist Party of China (ID‑CPC). It traces the ID‑CPC’s external engagement from the early 2000s onward, showing how party-to-party ties have been expanded and repurposed—especially since Xi Jinping took office—to advance Chinese interests and promote China’s vision for reforming the global order.

📚 How the Evidence Was Collected

• Systematic analysis of publicly available documentation
• Focus on patterns of the CPC’s external relations and travel diplomacy from the early 2000s to the present

🔑 Key Findings

• Intense travel diplomacy: The ID‑CPC conducts an extensive program of visits and exchanges that builds ties with political elites around the world.
• Wide global reach: The party maintains a stretched network of contacts across regions and regime types.
• Shift under Xi Jinping: While party engagement predates Xi, efforts have been noticeably bolstered since his rise to power.
• Multiple functions of party relations:
• An additional channel for advancing China’s foreign policy interests
• A key instrument for promoting China’s agenda to reform global governance
• A vehicle for authoritarian learning, through the sharing of experiences about economic modernization and one‑party rule
• Cross‑regional comparisons illuminate variation in outreach and messaging, clarifying the ID‑CPC’s strategic role within Chinese foreign policy.

🔍 Why It Matters

The analysis reframes the CPC not only as a domestic governing actor but as an active international agent shaping norms and policy debates. Understanding party-to-party diplomacy opens a new research agenda at the intersection of China’s foreign relations, authoritarian diffusion, and transnational party networks.