Regional Economic Integration In East Asia

A Brookings Institution Press and the Research Institute of Economy, Trade, and Industry (Japan) publication East Asian economic integration is on the rise. In the past decade, all of the region's powers have begun negotiating free trade agreements with their neighbors. They are also exploring broader regional options, such as the creation of an East Asian summit or free trade area. These developments have not always been welcomed by observers in other parts of the world. Some fear that they mark a turn away from integration into the global economy and herald the emergence of a closed, inward-looking bloc. In this timely and important book, Naoko Munakata offers an alternative perspective, based on her experience as an economic official and trade negotiator over the past 20 years. East Asian integration, she argues, is not driven by defensiveness or anti-Western sentiment. Instead, it reflects pragmatic calculations of economic interest, as well as a desire for mutual trust and a sense of community. Munakata makes her case by analyzing developments in the region since the mid-1980s, highlighting such important factors as the evolution of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the impact of the 1997–98 Asian financial crisis, and the rise of China. She also outlines possible future scenarios for the region and offers policy prescriptions for building on regionalism's achievements to date. Over the coming decades, the rise of China, its relationship with Japan, and the institutional arrangements that bind those countries to the United States and the countries of East and Southeast Asia will become critical factors in the global balance of power. Transforming East Asia is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the roots of this transformation.

"There has been a proliferation of proposals for bilateral free trade areas in East Asia in recent times. These initiatives fly in the face of the long-standing support of key players in the region such as Japan for the MFN-based non-discriminatory trading system and the commitment to non-discriminatory trade liberalisation and reform within APEC. As China establishes its role in the WTO, its interests are very much in an open global trading system. The paper argues that the core interests of East Asian economies remain in non-discriminatory global trading arrangements and prosecuting those interests within the Doha Round of trade negotiations. It suggests that a way forward in sorting out the trade-distorting and protectionist effects of free trade agreements would be for East Asian economies to take a lead in negotiations on strengthening WTO rules on preferential trade arrangements. In terms of global economic welfare, the only good preferential arrangement is one that disappears in time. The paper makes specific recommendations for re-vamping the rule on preferential trade arrangements with that objective in mind"--P. 1.

An investigation of the causes and implications for the U.S. of increasing economic integration in East Asia. Includes: an overview of trends in and conditions for trade, investment, and economic integration in East Asia: host country policies and factors influencing those trends and conditions; external factors affecting the business activities of major traders and investors in the region; the relationship between foreign direct investment in the region and the region's trade patterns with others; energy needs and resources in the region; environmental conditions and opportunities for local and U.S. interests.

The Pacific Trade and Development (PAFTAD) conference series has been at the forefront of analysing challenges facing the economies of East Asia and the Pacific since its first meeting in Tokyo in January 1968. The 38th PAFTAD conference met at a key time to consider international economic integration. Earlier in the year, the people of the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union and the United States elected Donald Trump as their next president on the back of an inward-looking ‘America First’ promise. Brexit and President Trump represent a growing, and worrying, trend towards protectionism in the North Atlantic countries that have led the process of globalisation since the end of the Second World War. The chapters in the volume describe the state of play in Asian economic integration but, more importantly, look forward to the region’s future, and the role it might play in defending the global system that has underwritten its historic rise. Asia has the potential to stand as a bulwark against the dual threats of North Atlantic protectionism and slowing trade growth, but collective leadership will be needed regionally and difficult domestic reforms will be required in each country.

This book applies a spatial economics perspective to the understanding of the recent dynamism of the global economy, with particular focus on East Asia, and examines the prospects of regional integration in East Asia.

The accession of the People's Republic of China to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 significantly transformed the global economy both de facto and de jure. At the regional level, China's WTO accession served as an important catalyst for the establishment of Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) in East Asia. This was a novel development for the region, since East Asian States had previously followed a largely informal, market-driven approach to regional economic integration. By contrast, rules-based economic integration involving East Asian States was traditionally limited to multilateral integration under the GATT/WTO framework. This book systematically analyses and explains the development, nature and challenges of rules-based regional economic integration in East Asia with particular attention to the region's first four RTAs. While also addressing the socio-economic, historical and political factors influencing the development of RTAs in East Asia, the book focuses on the legal institutions governing economic integration in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as under the ASEAN–China Comprehensive Economic Co-Operation Agreement (ACFTA), the Japan–Singapore New Age Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA), and the Mainland China–Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). The book provides a systematic, comparative account of the scope, depth and (hard law versus soft law) quality of rules-based economic integration achieved under these four RTAs in the areas of trade in goods and services, investment liberalisation and protection, labour mobility, and dispute settlement.

'This book offers a fascinating exploration of the contradictions of East Asian economic integration: a topic of enormous contemporary significance to observers of world political and economic affairs. The collection provides an unusually rigorous and systematic treatment of this important topic, drawing on contributions from an impressive array of experts. It will provide a valuable resource for students, scholars and other observers seeking deeper understanding of the contemporary dynamics and challenges of East Asian integration.' - Kate MacDonald, University of Melbourne, Australia 'East Asia is a crucial part of the global economy. This book analyses three key elements of East Asian economic integration: trade, investment and international finance. The authors are leading experts in their fields. Their book represents an important addition to the literature on a subject of fundamental importance both regionally and globally.' - Bradly J. Condon, ITAM, Mexico City This book analyses recent developments and likely future paths for trade and financial integration in East Asia. It suggests a more coherent, balanced way forward for regional economic integration and analyses implications for institution building in East Asia. East Asia has achieved a high degree of intra-regional trade, investment and GDP correlation, through an expanding web of free trade agreements and production networks. However, financially, most regional economies are linked more closely to North America and Europe than to each other. As trade integration has accelerated, financial and monetary integration has not kept pace. East Asian Economic Integration analyses potential reasons and remedies for this phenomenon through a multidisciplinary framework of law, politics and economics. This comprehensive book will appeal to researchers and students in political science, international relations, trade law, international finance law, and regional studies generally. It will also be of great interest to regional

Costs and Benefits of Economic Integration in Asia brings together authoritative essays that identify and examine various initiatives to promote economic integration in Asia.

Introduction -- ch. 1. China and East Asia production network -- ch. 2. The internationalisation of China's Renminbi -- ch. 3. The internationalisation of Chinese enterprises -- ch. 4. Cross-strait economic relations: Taiwan's perspective -- ch. 5. CEPA and Mainland-Hong Kong's economic relations --ch. 6. China-Asean economic relations remain resilient despite rising challenges -- ch. 7. Ever-bonding Sino-Korean economic relationship but questionable contribution to regional integration -- ch. 8. China and Japan: great economic integration without a bilateral free trade agreement -- ch. 9. The political economy of East Asia economic integration.

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) aims to achieve greater integration between the ASEAN region and its six free trade agreement (FTA) partners (India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Korea). The RCEP is the only agreement to include three economies which are among the seven biggest economies of the world—China, Japan and India. The book opens with an introduction to the current status of economic integration and factors that would affect it and looks at key issues like non-tariff barriers, evolving investment regulations in China (in the context of FTAs), connectivity initiatives to integrate the region, rules of origin in the context of value chain integration in selected sectors as well as region-specific aspects of South Asia and South East Asia which would shape the regional economic architecture going forward. With an attempt to cover key imperatives, the book concludes by noting primary impediments to easier trade and investment flows in the region, highlighting possible policy recommendations to improve economic integration.