Asian new regionalism revisited: ASEAN–China interactions in the 21 st century

Abstract

ASEAN–China interactions constitute a critical site for reassessing the contemporary dynamics of new regionalism in the 21st century. While scholarship has moved beyond state-led and Eurocentric paradigms, gaps remain in understanding how new regionalism evolves in Asia. This article revisits Asian new regionalism and reconceptualises it as a pluralistic, multi-actor, multi-layered, and rule-shaping form of regional configuration engulfed by internal and external challenges. As demonstrated by ASEAN–China interactions, this process unfolds across digital, financial, and strategic domains and develops through regional agency under great-power pressures and the new geopolitics. This article addresses three core questions: What defines the contemporary characteristics of Asian new regionalism? How do these interactions shed new light on its changing forms and modalities? What shapes its trajectories toward integration, fragmentation, or reconfiguration? Drawing on empirical analyses of ASEAN–China interactions, the article highlights the interplay of the state and non-state actors, the rise of regulatory governance in emerging sectors, and the region’s adaptive responses to internal and external changes. As a rework of Asian new regionalism, this essay offers an empirically grounded and theoretically informed account of the Global South’s changing role in regional and global governance.

The authors' abstract, as published at the source. The Pacific Review, 2026 · DOI ↗