China is mulling whether to deepen its economic bonds with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the group's summit in Laos on Tuesday to mend rifts caused by the South China Sea disputes, analysts said.
The summit and its related meetings, including the East Asia Summit, will be attended by heads of state from 10 ASEAN member countries and by leaders from China, Japan, South Korea, the U.S. and India.
After attending the G20 summit in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province, U.S. President Barack Obama arrived Monday night in the Laotian capital Vientiane to attend the ASEAN summit, kicking off the first official visit by any U.S. president to the Southeast Asian socialist state.
Obama's visit is thought to aim at reinforcing his "pivot to Asia" policy before he leaves the Oval Office by opening a new chapter in diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Laos.
On Monday evening, Vientiane also welcomed Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who is set to meet with Obama on Tuesday in the first bilateral meeting between leaders of the two countries since the South China Sea arbitration concluded.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in July ruled against China's claims to territory demarcated by the so-called nine-dash line. China refused to participate in the arbitration and considers its verdict "null and void" with no legal binding force.
The trip to Vientiane is also Duterte's first overseas visit, and he is set to make his diplomatic debut at Tuesday's ASEAN summit.
Duterte previously told media he would not bring up the arbitration at the summit, but analysts say he and Obama might discuss the South China Sea disputes at their bilateral meeting.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye are scheduled to arrive in Vientiane on Tuesday.
Zhuang Guotu, head of the Center of Southeast Asian Studies at Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Monday that economic cooperation and security issues are going to top the summit's agenda.
"There are mutual desires from both ASEAN members and China to deepen economic bonds with each other. They wish to see some substantial benefit, whether it's in trade, connectivity or economic openness," Zhuang said.
"But security issues cannot be overlooked. And one important topic - whether it is brought up at the summit or not - is the South China Sea," he added.
Two documents related to the South China Sea - guidelines on the establishment of a platform on responses to maritime emergencies and a joint statement on applications of the Code for Unplanned Encounters in the South China Sea - are expected to be released at the ASEAN summit.
China and ASEAN member countries agreed to hasten consultations on the South China Sea Code of Conduct at an August meeting in Manzhouli, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where China and 10 ASEAN member states approved the documents.
