It is now a common phenomenon that rubber produced on
plantations of Thailand are processed into tires at Chinese
mainland workshops, which are sold to Europe and the United States
via Hong Kong.
Multinationals have helped form links for industrial division by
way of building up procurement centers, research and development
centers and production bases beyond the national or regional
borders, which has led to increased trade and exchange of visits
within Asia, and increasingly closer economic relations and
cooperation among Asian countries and regions.
The fact that multinationals are playing an important role in
advancing economic integration in Asia is universally acknowledged
by participants attending the annual conference of the Boao Forum
for Asia (BFA).
Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the BFA, said because of the
market forces, the economies in Asia are more closely linked than
ever before, wherein multinationals have played an irreplaceable
role.
As a matter of fact, governments of Asian countries and regions
are more active in promoting the economic integration in Asia in
the 21st century due to the Asian financial crisis in 1997 and the
worry of being marginalized by economic cooperation organizations
from other continents.
Up to now, a number of organizations assigned with the mission
to step up regional economic cooperation among Asian countries and
regions have set up, including the 10+3 cooperation mechanism among
ASEAN, China, Japan and the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the East
Asian Economic Conference.
Notable progress has been made in fields of trade
liberalization, financial cooperation among Asian countries and
regions. In November 2002, for instance, the then Chinese Premier
Zhu Rongji and leaders of the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian
Nations) member countries signed in Phnom Penh of Cambodia a
landmark framework agreement on enhancing full-range economic
cooperation, marking the beginning of setting up a China-ASEAN free
trade zone.
Asian countries and regions have carried out wide cooperation in
aspects such as establishment of a financial rescue mechanism and
supervision over flow of short-term capital. Eleven central banks
from East Asia and the Pacific Region announced on June 2003 that
they would pump up US$1 billion of capital to start up the Asian
Bond Fund.
Economic integration has made Asian countries and regions depend
more on each other's markets.
Again China, for example, has been actively participating in the
economic globalization and has attracted over US$500 billion of
international capital in the past 25 years. Large number of
multinationals have established bases for production and marketing
in China, greatly promoting development of manufacturing sector and
logistics in the country.
The volume of trade between China and other major economies of
Asia has been rising steadily. Among China's top 10 trade partners
for last year, 7 are its neighboring countries and regions.
Along with growing dependence on each other's market among Asian
countries and regions, an economic organization that can be matched
with European Union and North American Free Trade Zone will soon
take shape in Asia, analysts say.
(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2004)