The “China Factor” in East Asian Economic Cooperation: A Multi-angled Analysis

　　Abstract : China is an increasingly important element in all economic cooperation in the East Asian region today. China’s high economic growth since its reforms and “open door” policies, and its internal and external transformations, have contributed to massive shifts in the structure of economic cooperation in the region. For one, Japan’s proposed “geeseflying formation” in the 1970s and 1980s has given way to one more akin to a “rhombic structure”formed by the larger economies of China and Japan, and the two smaller economies of ASEAN and South Koreaof economic cooperation today. For better appreciation of the “China factor” in economic cooperation in the region, this article offers four new perspectives on China’s impact by reviewing: (1) China socioeconomic achievements thus far; (2) the sustainability of its developments and its possible effects;(3) its economic weight at the global level; and( 4) its stature in the structure of East Asian economic cooperation. China today already possesses adequate economic capacity to influence both global and regional economies. This capacity, without doubt, is going to expand further, as China achieves greater, and sustainable, economic growth in future.