This book, as part of the law and global governance series, unravels a two-way relationship between China and international law against the backdrop of the rise of China. Professor Cai argues that there is Chinese exceptionalism to international law and such exceptionalism matters. The book has six chapters namely: The Relevance of International Law; State Identity and Legal Policies; Regimes; Institutions; Chinese Courts and Lawfare in the Dispute Settlement. The first two chapters paint upon the canvas of China, to lay a foundation, by analyzing the fundamentals of China's state identity and setting out its historical evolving relationship with international law. The book then highlights two transitions: the transition from norm compliance to norm entrepreneurship via the lens of four regimes, (peace and security, WTO and investment law, human rights, and cybersecurity), as well as the transition from being an institution user (or in Cai's boxes – “outsider”, “partner”, and “member”), to being an institution builder (“sponsor”) with vivid examples in recent years. Further, it deals with how Chinese courts apply international law; and how China engages with international dispute settlement with key examples such as the South China Sea arbitration and the China-US trade war. The conclusion of this book brings out the past memory of American exceptionalism and rests on taking Chinese exceptionalism seriously, signaling the discussion of a new concept – “Eastphalia” vis-à-vis “Westphalia” – thus weighing into the switch of the centre of gravity in international law scholarship. For decades, international law scholars have dwelled on the question “is international law law?” which has been asked, answered, ruminated, and finally redirected. However, we now have an inextricably interwoven yet, less examined question: “is international law international?” as exemplified by Professor Anthea Roberts’ book.Footnote ¹ Professor Cai's book is an attempt to answer this question from observing state practice. This book per se testifies to the collective wisdom from research and communication with scholars at New York School of Law, Columbia Law School, Humboldt University School of Law, and Professor Roberts herself. Professor Cai's writing has appeared in many renowned international law journals before, with this monograph exemplifying how well Chinese scholars are now able to engage with mainstream international legal scholarship on an equal footing. Admittedly, Professor Cai is no exception to the rule of writing about international law in an abstract fashion however, this book is a great start to further discussion, and thus begs the writing of a second book with less span, and more focus on one or two issues.