Asia’s growth

Asia’s integration has been reshaping the global economic landscape. The emerging economies in East and Southeast Asia now account for about 25% of total global trade and 21% of global GDP, compared with about 10% and 5.8%, respectively, in 1985.

The idea that emerging East Asia is economically independent of shocks in major industrial countries is sometimes called the “decoupling hypothesis.” It’s based on the observation that the region’s sustained high growth in the early 2000s was seemingly unaffected by the ups and downs of major advanced economies. Emerging East Asia’s economic performance has been solid despite visible slowing in most advanced economies since the global financial crisis. This performance has been underpinned by dynamic growth in the People’s Republic of China. The region’s high reliance on exports has been accompanied by a significant diversification of its export base: the G3 economies collectively accounted... — blogs.adb.org/blog