The dire situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover continues to make headlines, and the question has emerged whether China is the big winner of the US withdrawal from the country. In this episode of the MERICS China podcast Raffaello Pantucci, Singapore-based Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), explains that narratives of China winning in Afghanistan are exaggerated but that an outcome of the US withdrawal is increasing Beijing’s influence across the Central Asian region, where countries see China as an important, preeminent partner. Yet, he concludes, if Western actors work together there is still leeway for them to engage in the region.