移り行く北東アジアの経済協力 : 1990年代における変化と今後の展開

The purpose of the paper was to find out some proofs for growing economic interdependence among the Northeast Asian countries in the 1990\u27s, and to identify the specificity of this process. An examination of trade patterns of every country in Northeast Asia has shown, that despite the remaining tensions among the countries, - territorial, political, ethnic, the lack of diplomatic relations between Japan and North Korea and etc., - the level of economic interdependence was steadily rising during the past decade, though it is still low compared with shares of intra-regional trade in North America and the EU. The direction of trade towards the regional market has intensified in every country of NEA, and this was driven by a remarkable growth of cross-border investments, which was observed everywhere in Northeast Asia including North Korea. An attitude towards closer cooperation with Northeast Asia in Japan and Russia is different at national and regional level. Economic exchanges with NEA are being promoted mostly by the localities in China, Japan, and Russia, who are looking forward to accelerate the pace of economic development and improve standard of living by means of internationalization of local economies. There is little (or even none) support from the central governments (in Japan, Russia, and even China) on speeding up regional cooperation. China has become an engine of the growing economic interdependence within NEA. It was marked an obvious rise of the Chinese economic influence within the continental Northeast Asia during the decade, as China started to dominate in economic exchanges with Mongolia, North Korea, and provinces of the Russian Far East. A greater involvement of Japan, the largest economic power of Northeast Asia, into the process of regional cooperation is awaited by other countries, as it would speed up realization of multilateral projects by providing with required capital, and counterbalance the growing economic influence of China in the continental NEA, which is crucial for securing sustainable development in Northeast Asia.論文Articl