Research On The Development Model And Path Of East Asia's Economic Integration

A new round of regional economic integration began to emerge in the 1990s. However, when compared with the EU and NAFTA, East Asia's economic integration has been stumbling on a thorny path. This has negatively affected the economic potential of the region and has triggered hot discussions in the political, economic and academic arenas.Through diversified theories of economic integration with the focus on non-conventional benefit theory and the Hub-and-Spoke Theory, this article conducts an in-depth analysis on the current stagnation of East Asia's economic integration with a view to providing a perspective on its unique pattern and development path based on the results of international research. It concludes that the ongoing dilemma of EA economic integration is rooted in the economic, political and cultural preconditions peculiar to this region. The constraints include not only economic factors such as the economic gaps among different economies, strong reliance on the Western markets and a huge demand for outside capital but also political and cultural adverse effects, such as domestic opposition from interest groups and the public as a result of potential impairment to a specific industry, compromise of national interest as a result of necessary sovereignty consignment and uncertainty of relations with the US, divergence of cultural origins and identities and weak sense of regionalization, etc.. The EA economic integration will have to be realized in a different way from the EU and NAFTA. Multiple approaches must be taken, such as advocacy of the "Harmonious East Asia" concept, improving political trust among the EA countries and consolidating economic cooperation, before a free trade zone can be established gradually in this region.