The Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) released its first "Annual Report 2005 on Economic Integration in Asia" Friday to provide the latest information on economic integration in Asia and advance the latest suggestions for the process.
According to the BFA's annual report, deeper economic and political cooperation will be conducive to the further enhancing of bilateral and multi-lateral trade among Asian nations.
The report says that it is necessary for the governments of Asian nations to improve their macro-economic measures so as to attract more direct foreign investment, or FDI, and that FDI will promote the development of trade.
The deepening of the international division of industries demand more efficient policy coordination between different governments in Asia in order to avoid unnecessary trade friction.
Fidel Ramos, chairman of the board of BFA, said at the press conference for the launching of the annual report that China and other fast growing economies in Asia would not only push forward economic integration in Asia but also promote such a process around the world.
The fast economic growth in China has served as a driving force for its neighboring countries, in particularly for East Asian economies, said Ramos.
In 2001, China accounted for 30.6 percent of trade in East Asian region, up from the 24.7 percent in 1985. Meanwhile, China has grown into an important market in the region. Between 1995 and 2003, the nation's imports from ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) member countries soared dramatically.
According to the report, the sustained growth of the Chinese economy has promoted the rise of Asia. A slow down of the Chinese economy would affect the regional economy as a whole.
The report says that from 1986 to 1995, developed nations posted an average annual economic growth of 3 percent, and the growth rate slowed down to 2.8 percent for years between 1996 and 2005. During the same two periods, the economic growth in emerging Asian economies was 8.1 percent and 4.3 percent, and the growth rates for developing Asian nations headed by China stood at 7.7 percent and 6.6 percent on average.
Long Yongtu, general-secretary of BFA, said at the press conference that from this year forward BFA will release an annual report on economic integration in Asia every year at its annual conference, making it an authoritative report on the issue in the world.
(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2005)
