<p>China’s rise has become one of the central debates in contemporary international relations, raising important questions about the future of global order and hegemonic leadership. This paper critically examines China’s rise as a global power and its implications for the future of international order. Contrary to traditional hegemonic transitions, China’s rise is marked by extensive material capabilities without corresponding normative leadership. The study argues that China represents a new category of power—structurally influential but normatively incoherent—operating through infrastructural entanglement and strategic ambiguity rather than institutional rule-setting or ideological diffusion. Drawing on constructivist and neo-Gramscian frameworks, the paper explores how China reshapes global systems without assuming the responsibilities or legitimacy historically associated with hegemony. It concludes that China’s trajectory reflects a shift toward fragmented multipolarity, where authority is contested, leadership is transactional, and global order is increasingly defined by pluralism and instability. This reframing challenges the assumptions of hegemonic stability theory and calls for new conceptual tools to understand power in a post-hegemonic age.</p>