ABSTRACT
The economic development of the Asian region, which has centered on East Asia for the past half century, illustrates a new stage in the history of capitalism. In 2010, China surpassed Japan in terms of GDP to take second place in the world behind the U.S. Changes in China's foreign policy have attracted considerable attention, and these have generated new responses from and created issues for neighboring countries as well as those further afield. However, economic development has not been limited to China alone. In forums monopolized by advanced countries to discuss international economic and financial matters, the influence of emerging countries has strengthened to the extent that global issues cannot be effectively addressed without including them as members.
