China should promote E.Asian regional integration: economist

Monday March 21, 2005, 5:57 pm


BEIJING, March 21 Asia in Focus - East Asian countries have a common responsibility to institutionalize regional integration, and China should be at the centre of this movement, said Lee Kyung-tae, president of the South Korean Institute for International Economic Policy. He added that East Asia lags far behind in the development of a regional co-operation system, compared with the European Union and the North American Free Trade Area.

* China, with its rapidly growing trade and FDI, is emerging as a major player in the East Asian community.

* China's trade volume was US$38 billion in 1980, US$115 billion in 1990 and US$1.15 trillion last year.

SUMMARY

China should be at the centre of the movement to institutionalize regional integration in East Asia, says economist

ASIA IN FOCUS

from: http://au.biz.yahoo.com/050321/17/3sul.html