What’s central to Beijing, according to China (6)
I believe the answer is:
jasper
'china' is the definition.
(jasper is a type of china)
'what's central to beijing according to' is the wordplay.
'what's central to' says to take the centre.
'according to' becomes 'as per' (I've seen this before).
The middle of 'beijing' is 'j'.
'j'+'asper'='JASPER'
(Other definitions for jasper that I've seen before include "Reddish-brown stone used in jewellery" , "Opaque quartz" , "Opaque reddish-brown semi-precious stone" , "Gemstone" , "A man" .)