US President Barack Obama is hosting leaders from the ASEAN nations at a special summit in California.
They'll gather at the Sunnylands Estate in Rancho Mirage for two days of talks on economic issues, strategic challenges and counter-terrorism, followed by an investment conference in San Francisco on Wednesday.
Our US correspondent Simon Marks is in California covering the summit for us, and says White House officials say it's designed to kick off a year of renewed American focus on the Asia-Pacific region.
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President Barack Obama must really like Sunnylands….the sprawling Annenberg family estate in the middle of the California desert.
It was here that he entertained President Xi Jinping in blazing temperatures back in June 2013.
Now once again the White House is descending on a place that boasts 80 hectares of property, 22 guest rooms, 11 lakes and a 50-seat theater.
US officials say the venue itself will give rise to unscripted, informal discussions on some of the critical global topics of the day.
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2:47 "We've done a lot of work with ASEAN over the last 7 years, and we want to close strong…."
That's Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes.
He says by inviting ASEAN's leaders to California the White House wants to make sure President Obama's successor in the Oval Office is encouraged to continue the US foreign policy tilt towards Asia.
TAKE RHODES SOUNDBITE "We want to make sure that on all the different initiatives that we've had with ASEAN, that we know how we're going to get from here to the end of the year, or to the end of the Presidency, and so this is a chance to set that workplan. Some of that will be things that we want to finish in our administration but some of that will be wanting to leave for the next administration a good platform of deeper engagement with ASEAN".
Building then, on a series of meetings with ASEAN leaders, this summit will have three central components.
It will begin with a session on trade and investment.
ASEAN is already the fourth-largest export market for US goods…….now the leaders will focus on boosting trade in the tech and innovation sectors.
After that, there will be a private dinner with no fixed agenda….just a free form conversation flanked by the Mountains of the Palm Desert.
The summit will end with a session on security issues….and Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes officials concede the territorial dispute in the South China Sea will loom large.
TAKE RHODES SOUNDBITE (Super: Ben Rhodes, US Deputy National Security Adviser)
Our view is the more ASEAN is able to speak with one voice on this the better. That, you know, if this is seen as only an issue of concern to the claimants, or this is seen as even different claimants have different views on how this should be addressed, beyond simply their territorial claim, we think make it harder to resolve the issue in the region".
Also expected to come up in discussion….the threat North Korea poses to global stability….and the battle against attempts by extremist groups to radicalize and recruit followers across the Asia Pacific region.
There are also protests expected outside the Sunnylands estate by a variety of activists including those campaigning for change in Vietnam, Laos and Campodia.
And ahead of those, US National Security Adviser Susan Rice met with civil society representatives from some of those nations to underscore - the White House insists - that respect for good governance and human rights will be part of America's focus at the meeting.
President Obama's advisers say they don't expect this special summit to become an annual affair, nor is there a plan for it to conclude with any kind of published communique or agreement.
But they say it symbolizes the fact that US contact with ASEAN is now becoming routine….and in-and-of-itself is a foreign policy achievement that Barack Obama wants to herald and to weave firmly into the tapestry of the US relationship with the region.
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