China and North Africa in the Multipolar Era: An Analysis of Foreign Policy and Cooperation

This article examines China-North Africa relationships through the lens of role theory, highlighting how China’s role conceptions and performances are co-constructed by regional regimes and public audiences in the context of an emerging multipolar order. Drawing on the cases of Egypt and Tunisia, the article argues that China’s presence in the region is not simply a result of strategic projection from Beijing but is also shaped by the expectations, legitimizing discourses, and strategic role-assignments of local actors. In particular, the 2023 Gaza War context rendered public audiences as active contributors to the discursive construction and legitimation of China’s diplomatic role. The findings contribute to studies on China-North Africa relations and role theory by discussing how diplomatic roles are shaped by the dynamic interplay between elites and grassroots, state strategies and popular reception under the evolving conditions of multipolarity.