Asian trade integration foundations continue to strengthen: report

BOAO, HAINAN: The foundations of Asian trade integration have continued to strengthen, the Boao Forum for Asia said in a report released on Tuesday.

Intra‑regional trade dependence rose to 57.2% in 2024 from 56.3% in 2023, the report, titled "Asian Economic Outlook and Integration Progress Annual Report 2026", said, as major economies in the region increasingly orient their trade ties towards one another.

Bilateral trade among major Asia‑Pacific economies is gaining momentum, with intra‑ASEAN trade rebounding and two‑way flows between ASEAN and China leading the recovery, the report noted.

China’s exports to emerging economies are growing faster than those to Japan and the Republic of Korea, reinforcing its role as a regional hub supported by market scale and a robust supply of intermediate goods, it added.

The report said China’s relationships with these partners are evolving beyond traditional trading‑partner dynamics towards a "community with a shared future", characterised by increasingly intertwined industrial and value chains.

Fuelled by rising investment in digital infrastructure, the demand dividend of Asia’s vast markets and deepening regional economic integration, the region is gradually transforming from a participant in global services trade into one of its principal engines of growth, the report concluded.

By RSS/Xinhua