ABSTRACT
Compared with a more institutionalized and integrated Europe, Asia has been underdeveloped in institutionalized regional cooperation. In recent years, however, Asia has been undergoing a dynamic process of growth, development, and regional cooperation. Since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, regional cooperation in Asia has gained momentum and become a catalyst for a region-wide transformation, in which China has played a positive role. A changing China is reinforcing the trend toward the upward trajectory of regional cooperation. This paper attempts to analyze China's approach to regional integration and related policies concerning
Asian regionalism. I argue that, in the process, China has adapted itself to and helped shape regional dynamics. I will describe the evolution of China's engagement in the region since the early 1990s, and will analyze China's role in different regional groupings. This paper will also discuss China's policy thinking with regard to regionalism.
