INTRODUCTION

East Asia is an area where new emerging market economies are very dynamic, intra-regional economic links are closely knitted and highly reliant on external markets. Faced with the rapid growth of regional trade arrangements around the globe and especially the expansion of the two trade blocs of EU and NAFTA, the various countries in this region are reformulating their strategies of foreign economic relationship, and actively carrying out intra-regional and cross-regional free trade negotiations. Under the established “ASEAN+3 (Japan, China and Korea)” framework for cooperation, the Framework Agreement on Comprehensive Economic Cooperation between ASEAN-China was signed at the ASEAN-China summit held in Phnom Penh, and currently the Free Trade Area negotiations have entered an intensive period. Japan has signed a Japanese-Singapore Economic Partnership Agreement (JSEPA), and has issued a joint statement with ASEAN concerning the establishment of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the conducting of bilateral FTA negotiations with some members. FTA negotiations between Korea and Singapore are also underway. China, Korea and Japan have issued a joint statement to set up a three-party committee to promote cooperation between the three countries. The final report submitted by the “East Asian Study Group” to the “ASEAN+3” Summit laid out proposals on how to boost the prosperity and stability of the East Asian region.

Against such a backdrop, how to maintain the cooperative tendency of the East Asian region and bridge the ideal and reality has become a common challenge to the “Ten+3” leaders. Through a multi-scheme comparison of East Asian regional cooperation, this chapter attempts to analyse the possibilities for EAFTA to be realized as a mid-term objective for ASEAN, Japan, China and Korea to promote regional economic integration.

NEW TENDENCIES OF FREE TRADE RELATIONSHIP IN EAST ASIA

In the 1990s, a wave of regional economic integration swept through the whole world. By the end of 2002, the World Trade Organization had received formal notifications of 250 Regional Trade Arrangements (RTAs). Most WTO members have participated in one or more RTAs, and the trade volume between RTA members accounted for forty-three per cent of the global trade in 2001. With various forms of RTA, institutional arrangements with Free Trade Area (FTA) at the core are winning over more and more acceptance by various countries.