China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are beginning to harvest tangible economic benefits two decades after a dialogue mechanism between the two was initiated.

A much-anticipated free trade area (FTA) between China and the regional bloc was formally launched in early 2010, which, with a $4.5 trillion trade volume, ranks as the world's third largest trade zone. The bilateral trade value in the first half of this year reached $136.5 billion, an increase of 55 percent year on year, and the figure for the full year is expected to total $250 billion.

Amid the global financial crisis, and at a time when global economic recovery still remains a faint prospect, the enormous progress China and the ASEAN countries have achieved in the economic and trade field will undoubtedly help dissipate any clouds over their economic development.

With the establishment of such an FTA on a mutually beneficial basis, the structure of China-ASEAN economic ties has also changed to the latter's advantage. The 10-member bloc is now playing a different role than in the past, as China's robust demands for energy and raw materials make China and ASEAN counties economically complementary. In the first half of this year, China's imports from the Southeast Asian Nations increased 64 percent on the same period last year, and its exports to ASEAN increased 45 percent for the period year on year.

However, there also exists another factor that is trying to affect the continuing development of China-ASEAN ties: namely, the United States. Traditionally, Washington has regarded Southeast Asia as a strategic point to contain an emerging China. This Cold War mentality has not changed despite the region's declining strategic importance on the US' diplomatic chessboard over the past two decades. In recent years in particular the US has become more overt in using ASEAN countries as a buffer in its widespread rivalry with China's ever-growing power and influence.

This has resulted in the unpopular Cold War mentality becoming more noticeable. This can be seen in the recent remarks made by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, and Robert F Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command, that sovereign disputes involving the South China Sea are part of US national interests and that China's development will fuel concerns among regional countries. The joint military exercises held between the US and Vietnam and other Asian nations in the otherwise serene and peaceful South China Sea, have only added to tensions in the region.