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India and China, two of the world's most densely populated nations, share the world's longest unmarked border, spanning over 3,000 kilometers. Their efforts to resolve the ongoing border dispute, which has persisted since the early 1990s, have yielded no substantial results.

During 2020 and 2021, China engaged in aggressive face-offs and skirmishes at the Sino–Indian border, resulting in dozens of casualties. During that conflict, there was a strong call for boycott of Chinese goods, endorsed by Indian celebrities. In July and September 2020, the Indian government banned dozens of Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat and started investigating 250 more for user privacy violations.

China has invested 7 billion dollars in Bangladesh over the past decade and bagged 23 billion more contracts. Most projects funded by Chinese investment in Bangladesh are contracted to Chinese contractors. Several Chinese companies have also acquired contracts for other non-China funded development projects, often not adhering to due diligence, the rules of procedures, or following a competitive tendering process. In Nepal, the space for media to report on Tibet has shrunk. Sri Lanka received over US$ 12 billion in Chinese investment between 2006 and 2009, and the Rajapaksa regime pushed for the construction of Colombo Port City in 2021. China also bailed Sri Lanka out from the economic implications of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war.