The zhongzhou port of guangxi chuang autonomous region (zhongxiang autonomous region) has anchored industrial and regional logistics needs, optimizes port functional layout and provides efficient integrated logistics support to the china-asean free trade area. This is illustrated by the busy container plowing operations in the lee jiahang area of port-au-prince in recent days. Ho qin
In recent years, the asian economy has maintained its positive dynamic, becoming one of the most dynamic regions in the world and an important engine for global economic development. What are the “resilience points” that sustain the asian economy against the external wind, under the current entanglement of the international situation, the continued spread of unilateralism and protectionism, and under the positive momentum of asia? How asia's challenge togetherRegional cooperationGoing deep? The present newspaper's reporter interviewed xu sujun, director of the international market research institute of the institute of studies of the ministry of commerce, and vice-president of the china institute of modernization of the chinese academy of social sciences, explaining the sources of resilience and the way forward in the asian economy。
The policy, industry and market feeder, building the asian resilience chassis
Observation
Data show that in 2010-2024, most developing economies in the asian region maintained growth rates of 4 per cent or more; asia accounted for more than 50 per cent of the global manufacturing value added, creating an initial network of collaborative supply chains in the industrial chain in the areas of power and electricity, new energy vehicles, etc.; and the asia-pacific region hosted 331 million international tourists in 2025, an increase of 6 per cent over the previous year. In recent years, asia's multi-country growth policies have shown positive results, the dividends of regional economic integration have been unleashed, and the asian economy is showing mixed growth trends。
Point evaluation
Xu su-jun: against the backdrop of global economic polarization and increased protectionism, asia has developed a more dynamic regional economic “small circle” that has effectively hedged against external risks. Since the twenty-first century, intraregional trade investment in asia has increased significantly, and its position as a global trade “barracker” has continued to consolidate。
At the industrial level, a complete regional supply chain of high value added has taken shape. From cutting-edge chip manufacturing to containment testing, from key electrons to server consolidation, asia is moving from traditional “world factories” to global centres of artificial intelligence and semiconductors, with a complete industrial chain system. Ai hardware and data infrastructure investments are flowing to asia at an unprecedented rate, injecting dynamic energy into industrial upgrading。
On the demand side, domestic demand markets and green transformations provide a solid “buffer cushion” for asian economies. Asia has enormous consumption potential, with excess savings to be released in the region. At the same time, the green transformation is becoming a real investment windfall, with the emergence of dynamism in such areas as battery manufacturing, electric cars and green finance, opening up new space for sustainable economic development in asia。
Sing: from a trade and industrial chain perspective, the resilience of asian economies stems from synergies at the policy, industrial and market levels。
At the policy synergy level, mechanisms such as the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement (rcep) and the china-asean fta have reduced transaction costs and created conditions for industrial chain integration. Enterprises can allocate resources across borders at lower institutional costs, and the production links, which were scattered across countries, can be more closely linked。
At the industrial level, emerging industries have improved supply efficiency and created new growth opportunities. Especially in frontier areas such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, complete supply chain systems enable asia to respond quickly to global technological changes and transform innovation into an effective supply of scale。
At the market level, asia has a population of more than 4 billion, with a relatively high youth population, superseding trends in the digital and green economy, a vast domestic demand market that not only provides a stable channel for the regional capacity to digest, but also leads, in turn, to higher value chains through consumption upgrading。
Regional economic integration moves deeper and ai innovation leads to new dynamics
Observation
For the first time in 2025, china's total trade with asean surpassed the $1 trillion mark, an increase of 7. 4 per cent over the previous year; four years after the entry into force of the rcep, foreign direct investment attracted more than 30 per cent of the world's total and was at the forefront of global regional cooperation mechanisms; and developing economies in the asian region continued to accelerate the transition from traditional industries to new and emerging industries. The latest report of the united nations conference on trade and development shows that the share of investment in high-technology industries and digital infrastructure in the asia-pacific region continues to increase significantly against a backdrop of weak global investment。
Point evaluation
Sing: in recent years, the cooperation mechanism represented by the china-asean fta has been moving forward at a remarkable pace to inject dynamic energy into the process of regional economic integration。
Rules such as tariff concessions, accumulation of origin, etc. Have significantly reduced the cost of enterprises and the share of intraregional trade has continued to rise. This rule dividend allows more smes to embed in regional production networks and also binds industrial chains more closely within asia。
The effects of investment facilitation are equally significant. As countries optimize their business environment and lower thresholds for cross-border investment, intraregional industrial chains and supply chains are moving from complementarity to integration, trade structures are becoming more optimized, and an integrated industrial ecology is emerging across borders. This deep integration has both contributed to the growth of countries and effectively responded to external shocks resulting from trade protectionism and economic polarization。
Suh soo jun: the last two yearsScience and technology innovationIn particular, ai-driven upgrading of industrial chains is the fastest and most far-reaching area of economic development in asia. Two years ago, the semiconductor industry was in a downward cyclical path, but with the explosion of generating ai, asia unexpectedly ushered in a supercycle. The rapid and wide-ranging transformation has made sti the most dynamic variable of asian economic resilience。
On the demand side, countries and enterprises compete for ai infrastructure, with exponential growth in demand for ai chips, high-performance storage and servers. In particular, china has made breakthroughs in areas such as large-scale linguistic models and multi-modular models, driving artificial intelligence into the initial movement towards universal intelligence, where demand is growing。
From the supply side, this demand dividend is rapidly transmitted to the entire asian supply chain. China's mainland has been strengthening its basic research and promoting strategically oriented and systematic research, which has become the world's top pool of artificial intelligence experts; the taiwan region of china and the republic of korea have continued to maintain their advantages in the field of chip storage, providing critical support to the entire industrial chain; and malaysia's position as a global semiconductor-separate hub has become even more prominent. Over the past two years, asia has been an important leader in the global ai computing revolution, thanks to its deep technological accumulation and full industrial chain。
To confront the new situation and promote a “community” of risk-sharing and benefit-sharing
Observation
The global risk report 2026 issued by the world economic forum shows that geo-economic rivalry is the primary risk in 2026; the world trade organization is lowering expectations of an increase in global trade in goods by 2026 and warning that the effects of regional conflicts and rising tariffs are gradually emerging... ... Uncertainty in the international trading environment poses a challenge to economic growth in the asia-pacific region, where unilateralism and protectionist reversals disrupt global supply chains and put pressure on export-oriented economies. How can asia manage risks in the face of external uncertainties
Point evaluation
Seo su-jun: looking ahead, achieving sustainable economic development in asia requires attention to two challenges. One is the concentration of production sites in the area of science, technology and innovation, represented by high-end semiconductors, which places greater demands on the stable operation of the asian technology supply chain. The question of how to make industry more resilient and responsive to cyclical fluctuations in industry is a matter for forward-looking reflection. Second, from the outside, international competition in the field of technology continues to evolve, with some impact on the existing division of labour system in asia. This will require a more proactive stance by asian countries to jointly preserve the industrial ecology of open cooperation。
At the response level, deeper collaboration could continue to be built on existing frameworks, such as the rcep, to foster a “community” of shared risks and benefits; and there should be a solidarity with the outside world in maintaining an open and inclusive global trading system, supporting wto reform and securing wider international market space for asian science and technology products. In addition, in the face of emerging issues such as the digital economy and supply chain security, more professional and flexible platforms for cooperation could be explored to establish common rules in key areas such as cross-border data flows, digital trade facilitation, ai governance and cybersecurity。
Sing: asian industrial chains and supply chain cooperation need to be continuously improved in response to new situations. The current and longer-term period has seen an increase in variables such as the evolution of the global geomorphology, the security of trade corridors, and the effects of extraterritorial factors, which have increased the demand for deeper cooperation in the industrial chain supply chain by superseding key technical cooperation barriers in some areas, industrial chain homogenization and competition。
On the one hand, asian countries could strengthen strategic connectivity, continue to promote infrastructure connectivity and upgrade logistics and customs facilitation. At the same time, deepening regional policy communication coordination, accelerating the greening and digital transformation of the industrial chain, building on the growth potential of strong regional consumer markets and sustaining regional industrial chains and supply chain resilience。
On the other hand, existing frameworks such as rcep and apec provide a solid basis for regional cooperation, on which ad hoc cooperation arrangements can be explored in the face of emerging issues such as the digital economy and supply chain security. China – the asean free trade area version 3. 0 has made positive arrangements on these issues. In the future, consideration could also be given to the establishment of a regional digital trade rules consultative platform, a supply chain security emergency coordination mechanism, a shared system of key spare parts reserves, digital infrastructure, the promotion of green standards mutual recognition and technology joint research and development, and stronger institutional safeguards for synergistic regional development. (reporter wang huijun)
People's daily overseas edition (08th edition, 25/03, 2026)
