Paradigm Shift of Regional Economic Cooperation Mechanism in East Asia: The Case of RCEP and CJKFTA

Abstract

The economies in East Asia, since the late twentieth century, have been important driving forces of regional and global economic growth. Among them, the development of regional FTAs and the continuous promotion of regional integration processes have played a key role. Both RCEP and CJKFTA, as two representative cases of regional FTA vision, are considered regional economic cooperation mechanisms with great potential. However, due to various factors, especially the intervention of the United States based on its interests in the Asia-Pacific region, the development process and final results of both are very different. An in-depth analysis of the two different regional FTAs can help further understand East Asia’s changing overall economic and political situation and the paradigm shift in FTA strategies in the process. What is beyond doubt is that future economic cooperation in East Asia will be confronted by the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy’s policy of containment of China’s regional influence. The competition between the two for regional leadership will significantly influence the future economic integration process in the region and the Asia-Pacific region. In the context of the global economic crisis caused by the pandemic, higher-level regional cooperation will effectively stimulate the potential development capacity of the East Asian region. It will lead to the recovery of the global economy through trade and other forms. On the contrary, if there is a double standard in East Asia, which is the core of the global value chain, due to political reasons, it will seriously slow down the overall global economic recovery process.