Measure
Analysis
China is a superpower in Asia.
China’s score increased slightly by 0.2 points in 2024.
China is the highest-ranked country on two measures: economic relationships and diplomatic influence. China has consistently led the Index’s ranking for economic relationships, reflecting its strong trade and investment ties with other countries in the region.
China regained its top ranking for diplomatic influence in 2024, reflecting its extensive diplomatic engagement with Asia Power Index countries.
China’s weakest performance is in its defence networks, where it held steady at 7th place. China’s score for this measure did not increase in 2024, but since 2018 it has risen by five rankings for this measure.
In 2024, the United States continues to outrank China for economic capability. China has still not fully regained its advantages in connectivity following the Covid-19 pandemic.
China exerts slightly more influence in the region than expected given its available resources, as indicated by the country’s positive power gap score, though this power gap was smaller than in 2023.
Read more analysis in the Key Findings report. Explore further results in the Scores section.
Annual changes
Bilateral Influence
Bilateral trade, current dollars (2022)
Countries that influence China
Globally, which countries does China do most of its trade with?
Countries influenced by China
Which countries in the region rely most on trade with China?
Scores
Comprehensive power
A country’s weighted average across eight measures of power
2nd
72.7
Rank
Change
Trend
Score