"Despite a turbulent 2011, Asia still maintained its growth momentum," Zhou Wenzhong, Secretary General at the Boao Forum for Asia, said on March 21, 2012 in Beijing. Zhou also commented that Asian economies must decide how to promote the region's ongoing integration process and intensify their efforts to cooperate, both regionally and globally. He added that regional-level cooperation was essential, both to expand the region's internal demand in light of the slowdown seen in US EU markets, and to prevent the region from splitting into several trading blocs.

Zhou Wenzhong [file photo]

According to the Annual Report 2012: Progress of Asian Economic Integration [download part 1, part 2], that in recent years, tourism has accounted for about 5 percent of the world's GDP. In 2011, the tourism industry continued to grow at a slow pace. The world's top 10 international tourist destinations in 2010 were essentially unchanged from 2009. According to the Report, the only difference was that China took third place based on international tourism revenue statistics. The Chinese mainland is the top destination by a wide margin, followed by Hong Kong (SAR) with tourism revenues of USD23 billion.

As equity markets in an increasing number of Asian economies become more closely linked, there is a deepening trend of financial integration in Asia. The Report warns, however, that more attention should be focused on the common risks facing Asia as opposed to country-specific risks. In light of this, a joint framework on financial integration is needed to better coordinate the Asian economies. With regards to China trying to internationalize its currency, the RMB, the Report states that: "while the policies to establish an offshore RMB market in Hong Kong (SAR) should be applauded, there is a need for further liberalization if the goal of internationalizing the RMB is to be achieved".

In conclusion, the Report urges for "an integrated production network" as it is the most important feature of Asian economic integration. Asia has developed a sophisticated production network called "Factory Asia"， the largest among the three factories in the world, as evidenced by the amount of trade of intermediate goods. Factory Asia's dependence on China is the highest among the individual Asian economies, while, by contrast, China only has modest dependence on Factory Asia with a dependence index equal to 0.575, similar to that of Japan.

Download: 2012 Boao Annual Report: Progress of Asian Economic Integration Part 1

                   2012 Boao Annual Report: Progress of Asian Economic Integration Part 2

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