The rationale for this volume on China's Rise in Mainland ASEAN: New Dynamics and Changing Landscapes stems from the rise in recent years of China, ASEAN's giant neighbor, and in its wake the significant economic, political, and socio-cultural developments in the ASEAN region. In the last two decades, China has successfully established itself as a powerful regional and global power, surpassing Japan in 2010 as the second largest economy of the world, and has become a major player in the affairs of South East Asian nations.At the same time, while China's spectacular growth makes it vulnerable in terms of expanding its global dependence, it also makes its neighbours equally vulnerable due to their growing dependence on China. All of these developments have led China through its evolving foreign policy to exert considerable influence on its immediate ASEAN neighbours in many complex ways.While the China-ASEAN bilateral relations are soaring, there are growing concerns among ASEAN member countries about the nature of China's engagement with ASEAN. In this context, this book focuses on China's influence on mainland ASEAN countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. China's Rise in Mainland ASEAN: New Dynamics and Changing Landscapes contributes useful insights, rich discussions, as well as the debates relevant to building a knowledge base about and better understanding of China's rising influence in mainland ASEAN.

Southeast Asia's interactions with China have tremendously transformed and prospered in the recent decades, with China becoming ever more present on Southeast Asian soil in recent history, touching all dimensions: economic, political, social, and cultural. The current ASEAN-China dynamics are remarkably different from the past, bearing both excitement and caution for watchers. In this context, the advent of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has added a new perspective to the nature of China's rise in ASEAN. As the various BRI projects continue to unfold in ASEAN countries, public concerns about the impact of these projects are on the rise.However, there has not been enough extensive study on this issue. This edited book contributes towards bridging the knowledge gap by facilitating experts from ASEAN, China, and beyond, to discuss, reflect, debate the ground realities of BRI based on the local governments' and local people's experiences and narratives. The chapters in this volume address various dimensions of the BRI, provide unique perspectives, empirical evidence, and updated information on the overall progress of BRI in ASEAN.