This dissertation examines how the People’s Republic of China shapes the evolution of international human rights norms within a transforming global legal order. As multipolarity and recurrent crises reshape international relations, international human rights law faces increasing risks of dilution and fragmentation. Within this context, China, positioning itself as a partner of the Global South and a counterweight to Western hegemony, has emerged as a central actor in redefining normative priorities and interpretive frameworks within international human rights institutions. Despite growing scholarly attention, systematic analyses of China’s concrete strategies in international norm-setting and their long-term implications remain limited.

The study addresses this gap by analysing China’s influence on human rights norm formation through three case studies. The Right to Development (RTD) illustrates proactive diplomatic norm entrepreneurship, with China employing institutional engagement, coalition-building, and discursive framing to promote a sovereignty- and development-oriented understanding of rights. While China is promoting the development of environmental governance structures at the national level, it has so far rejected an international codification of this law, thus preventing the formation of a global normative consensus. Building on these retrospective cases, the dissertation turns to the emerging field of global Artificial Intelligence (AI) regulation, where binding human-rights-related standards are still in flux. It explores how China may shape nascent norms in the digital domain by extending its development-centered human rights approach into AI regulation.

Human Rights Law – Emerging Rights – Norm Formation – China – Global Governance