China announced plans to create a $10 billion fund for investment cooperation between itself and its fellow ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) members.
Additionally China will provide a $15 billion credit line to its South East Asian neighbors, further extending its influence in the region.
China has been making its presence known in multilateral organizations around the globe. Recently pledging increased levels of support for organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Bloomberg reports in this article:
The investment fund will promote infrastructure development linking China with the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, while the loans will be offered over three to five years, according to a statement on the Foreign Ministry Web site today citing an interview with Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
The measures from the world’s third-largest economy, and one of the few forecast to maintain growth this year, may help speed recovery from the global financial crisis and cement China’s leadership in the region. The nation has already signed currency swap agreements with Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Malaysia this year to help ease foreign-exchange shortages and aid bilateral trade and investment.
“China is going to take the opportunity of this crisis to further establish itself in Asia,” said Huang Jing, a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy. “All this will have a huge political and diplomatic impact in the region, in addition to the economic impact.”
Check out this link see a post a few weeks back on China & the IMF / IDB.
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