Obama to host ASEAN leaders in California: White House

In a first of its kind, US President Barack Obama will host leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries for a two day summit in February next year to strengthen cooperation on political, security and economic issues with the ten member nations grouping, the White House has said.

"As the President announced in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia last month, he will host leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said.

Obama had hosted his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the same place.

The summit will take place at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage, California on February 15-16 next year.

"This unprecedented gathering - the first hosted by the United States with the ASEAN leaders - builds on the deeper partnership that the United States has forged with ASEAN since 2009 and will further advance the Administration's rebalance to Asia and the Pacific," Earnest said.

For nearly 40 years, the United States and ASEAN have worked toward stability, prosperity, and peace in Southeast Asia, he said.

This summit will provide leaders a forum to strengthen cooperation under the new US-ASEAN strategic partnership, launched in November this year in Kuala Lumpur on political, security and economic issues, Earnest added.

The ASEAN is a political and economic organisation of ten Southeast Asian countries. It was formed on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.