Regional Integration in East Asia

Abstract

Regional integration in East Asia was strikingly absent from the global waves of regionalism associated with the creation of the European customs union in the 1960s and deep integration in NAFTA, EC92 and CER in the 1980s. The only RTA, ASEAN, did not have much impact on regional trade. The situation has changed since the 1997 Asian crisis with monetary cooperation, deeper integration within ASEAN, and a host of bilateral and plurilateral agreements, including a China-ASEAN FTA. The chapter analyses reasons for the paucity of RTAs before 1997 and for their number since 1997. It discusses why the fi rst post- 1997 steps were money led, reversing the 'normal' sequence set out by Balassa and followed in Western Europe. It analyses why intra- regional trade, minor until the late 1980s, began to grow rapidly after the mid- 1990s and how this is related to the types of agreements signed since then. Finally, it examines battles over the appropriate forum to discuss regional economic issues in Asia.