Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has argued that China has “beaten the US at its own game of globalisation” by using open markets, trade, and global supply chains to rapidly grow its economy and expand its influence across Asia, Africa and Latin America. In his view, Washington championed globalisation when it overwhelmingly benefited American companies, but Beijing adapted faster and more effectively, turning the same rules of free trade and investment into tools for Chinese technological, manufacturing and financial clout.