Research on Orientating the Role of ASEAN in Regional Economic Cooperation in East Asia

Regional economic cooperation in East Asia has made great progress both in institutional construction and concrete economic harvest after the cold war,in which ASEAN has been playing the leading role.The important character of regional economic cooperation in East Asia is: small lead the great countries.ASEAN has been playing the leading role in ARF、East Asia Summit、ASEAN plus one Summit、ASEAN plus three Summit and so on.The causes exist as follows:ASEAN adopts a flexible balancing-great countries strategy facing the East Asia regional strategic structure;both Japan and China take the basic attitude toward the identity definition of ASEAN;the cooperative mechanism led by ASEAN facilitates ASEAN with the institutional safeguard.The leading role of ASEAN in regional economic cooperation in East Asia accords with the realistic circumstances,so the role of ASEAN will show great strong vitality,and the peculiar model will continue in the foreseeable future.