
Nowadays, it is almost on a par with the United States, the great and almost hegemonic maritime power for the last 80 years. Without ceasing to be a continental (land) power, China began to develop as a maritime power in all its facets to 40 years later become a "great maritime power" with enormous influence throughout the world. Since the 1980s under Deng Xiaoping, and taken up by subsequent leaders of the People's Republic of China, the country has been opening up to the world, developing on the basis of a market economy with Chinese characteristics, and for economic and commercial as well as historical reasons, the country is once again looking to the sea. This document is a copy of the original published by the Spanish Institute for Strategic Studies at the following link.
