Intra-Regional Trade in East Asia

This chapter examines the export experience of East Asian economies in the aftermath of the crisis against the backdrop of a systematic analysis of pre-crisis trade patterns. The analysis is motivated by the "decoupling" thesis, which was a popular theme in Asian policy circles in the lead-up to the onset of the recent financial crisis, and aims to probe three key issues: Was the East Asian trade integration story that underpinned the decoupling thesis simply a statistical artefact or the massive export contraction caused by an overreaction of traders to the global economic crisis and/or by the drying up of trade credit, which overpowered the cushion provided by intraregional trade? What are the new policy challenges faced by the East Asian economies? Is there room for an integrated policy response that marks a clear departure from the pre-crisis policy stance favouring export-oriented growth?.