Promoting Overall Cooperation Between Chinese Coastal Areas and the East Asian Economy

Précis: Effective utilization of comparative advantage as a result of cooperation between Guangdong Province and Hong Kong has supported the economic prosperity of both in recent years. Other Chinese coastal provinces, however, are far from tapping their potentials in this respect, especially in cooperating with their natural trade partners. In this essay, the authors advance the following framework for cooperation between China's coast and the East Asian countries and regions: Close cooperation should immediately be developed between areas on China's coastline and neighboring East Asian industrial countries and regions. This would include cooperation between the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong, the Southern Fujian Delta and Taiwan, Liaoning and Shandong and South Korea, Hainan Island and the ASEAN countries, and the Yangtze River Delta and Japan. Once this happens, the East Asian economy will not just be the "four little dragons, of Asia" that have attracted attention but one large dragon with the capital and technology of the East Asian industrial countries and regions at its head and China's coastal manpower and resources as its body.