The security situation in its neighboring environment will have a far-reaching influence on China in the coming year.

In 2012, China faced an unstable security situation because of threats to its maritime rights and interests as a result of intensified territorial disputes with some of its neighbors. Due to the increasingly fierce island dispute between Japan and the Republic of Korea and Japan's provocation of China by "purchasing" the Diaoyu Islands, the security situation in Northeast Asia is tense, complicated by the situation on the Korean Peninsula, where, although there was no military confrontation, the two rocket launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have added further uncertainty. Meanwhile, China is facing more and more pressure from attempts to internationalize and multilateralize the South China Sea disputes.

The situation is not helped by the intensified arms race in the region brought about by the US' "rebalancing" to the Asia-Pacific.