ABSTRACT

The intersection of China's rise with regional developments in East Asia has been one of the signature developments of the first decade in this century. The regional implications of China's hesitant turn towards a leadership role in a changing East Asian financial order are potentially far reaching. This chapter examines the early stages of financial regionalization in East Asia from a Chinese vantage point, employing a role theoretical perspective. The empirical sections analyze the evolution of the "Chiang Mai Initiative", an arrangement for crisis liquidity provision and surveillance between 1998 and 2012. Each section traces the changing characteristics of China's regional foreign policy, domestic financial developments, and the impact of these two factors on China's role taking and making in regional financial cooperation. The chapter concludes with an outlook on the contradictions and potential of China's leadership role in light of recent regional and domestic developments.