Debt Traps or Foreign Investments? Framing the BRI Debate throughout the Montenegro “Highway to Nowhere” Case Study

More than a decade after Xi Jinping’s rise to power, China remains central yet often misunderstood in global debates. Too frequently reduced to polarized narratives or Western conceptual frameworks, its complexity escapes simplified explanations. This volume brings together young scholars from different disciplines to explore the transformations reshaping China’s political, economic, social, legal, and international landscape. Through analyses ranging from the redefinition of “democracy” under Xi Jinping to demographic challenges, social inequalities, legal reforms, and new international projections, the book provides fresh insights into the dynamics of power and change in today’s China. In a world increasingly defined by interdependence, the essays collected here reject both fascination with the “Chinese model” and suspicion rooted in Eurocentrism, inviting readers to see China as a dynamic system marked by internal and external tensions, historical adaptation, and global interconnection. Combining academic rigor with accessibility, Understanding Contemporary China seeks to provide some tools for grasping how contemporary China is redefining itself.