China provided the bases for its meteoric rise in the 1970s, but it was during the 1990s and particularly the 2000s that it really called the world s attention. Now, the country holds an extremely relevant place in international relations, and the growing interest in it is inevitable, especially in its development and in its international cooperation initiatives. This dissertation aims to check China s recent rise as a global power and to compare Western traditional approach to international cooperation and Chinese foreign policy related to this agenda in order to discuss China s strategy during Xi Jinping s presidency in the field of development cooperation and how the Asian country may change its operation. In this regard, firstly, it will briefly analyse China s economic reforms and developmental trajectory, as well as more recent political, economic and diplomatic transformations. Afterwards, it will examine Western and Chinese similarities and differences regarding international cooperation. Finally, it will inspect the changing landscape of international development cooperation, based on China s rhetoric and practice and on the experimental nature of its initiatives, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, which, if successful, might favour China in the global stage.