The United States and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are planning to hold a summit in the middle of February in California, an Asean official source said.
The "special summit" between US President Barack Obama and leaders from the 10 Asean countries, is expected to be held on Feb 15-16 at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California. Mr Obama met with Chinese President Xi Jinping at the private estate in 2013.
The third summit between the United States and Asean was held last month in Kuala Lumpur. At that meeting, the Southeast Asian grouping endorsed Washington's request to elevate Asean-US dialogue relations to a strategic level.
The United States has been pushing Asean governments to support its fight against terrorism. It is also seen by some Asean countries as a balancing factor against China's increasingly assertive behaviour in disputed territories in the South China Sea.
In the economic sphere, it has led negotiations for the recently concluded 12-member Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade agreement, which includes four Asean members -- Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam.
The other six Asean members are Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and the Philippines.
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