Abstract:

East Asia, limited in this article to the fifteen countries that make up the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership's (RCEP) - mega-regional trade structure - includes the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The RCEP is an attempt to consolidate numerous bilateral free trade agreements concluded since the 2000s. Moreover, some RCEP member states contribute to another mega-regional trade structure, i.e., the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which includes, in addition to four ASEAN countries, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Peru, Canada, and Mexico. The aim of this article is to characterize the evolution of trade regionalism in East Asia, outlining the theoretical and institutional context of bilateralism and mega-regionalism through the years.