Network analysis approach to China's cooperative multilateral strategy in Asia between 1995 and 2020

This article examines Asia's cooperation and China's participation in it between 1995 and 2020, where Asia is conceptualized as a bimodal network of regional organizations and member countries. The analysis puts forward empirical evidence of the success of China's cooperative multilateral strategy in the region and explains how the expanded presence in the existing regional multilateral framework and establishing new ones safeguards the unique network position of the most well-connected actor in a region as mosaic as Asia is. China's proactive contribution to the existing frameworks legitimized and intensified all links (ties) in the region and creating new regional platforms has increased connectivity between other actors in Asia.