In a Chinese Communist Party Central Committee meeting in 2019, Chinese President Xi Jinping introduced the term shewai fazhi (涉外法治), or “foreign-related rule of law” (FRROL). The term quickly gained prevalence in party-state discourse, representing an increased focus on the use of legal means to advance China’s international interests, particularly in response to perceived unlawful and extraterritorial application of United States law amid heightened tensions related to trade and human rights. These developments culminated in the passage of a landmark Foreign Relations Law in July 2023. A Politburo special study session focused on FRROL the following November signaled a commitment to further refine the concept. This project analyzed Chinese government documents and academic literature to examine the application of FRROL in three areas: expansion of legal reach, influence on international law, and participation in the development of Global South legal systems, finding that the influence of FRROL is strongest in the first area, moderate in the second, and thin in the third.