China's National Interests: Exploring the Domestic Discourse

China's emergence as a global actor has fuelled much speculation over its ‘intentions’ in the long term. Arguably, debates on the issue have centred around China's growing military and economic power and concurrent challenges to the maintenance of the existing status quo in the international system. This article seeks to understand China's foreign policy motivations by studying the conceptualisation of ‘national interest’ within China. It examines Chinese literature for the definition of ‘national interest’, the current thinking on ‘core interests’ and what this implies for China's foreign policy trajectory. The article emphasises the domestic rationale that guides the conceptualisation of ‘national interests and their pursuit’ internationally.