Instrumental and Normative Dimensions of the Sino-Serbian Partnership: Between Transactional Cooperation and Ironclad Friendship

Trailović, Dragan (2025) Instrumental and Normative Dimensions of the Sino-Serbian Partnership: Between Transactional Cooperation and Ironclad Friendship. In: Risks for Serbian Foreign Policy in the Fragmentation of the International Order — Actors, Processes, and Outcomes. Institut za međunarodnu politiku i privredu, Beograd, pp. 84-110. ISBN 978-86-7067-363-2

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Abstract

In recent decades, China and Serbia have developed a relationship that combines pragmatic cooperation with a shared commitment to key principles and norms of international conduct, and what both sides describe as an ‘ironclad friendship.’ This paper examines the instrumental and principal-based dimensions of the Sino-Serbian partnership, arguing that while strategic and economic interests drive bilateral cooperation, shared normative commitments to the principles of sovereignty and non-interference reinforce and justify this cooperation. Drawing on both realism and constructivism, the study contends that material considerations primarily shape the partnership, but historical experiences of external intervention have fostered a mutual sensitivity to sovereignty issues. This normative alignment provides a legitimizing framework that extends the relationship beyond mere transactionalism. The paper aims to demonstrate that ideational factors, principles, and norms interact with pragmatic interests to sustain longterm strategic cooperation. This principle-based dimension helps explain the resilience of their relationship despite power asymmetry, differing social systems and levels of development. It also clarifies why their cooperation has remained consistent over time, transcending changes in the international environment.

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