Since APEC had its first meeting at Canberra in 1989, APEC has grown in function and role, following the need to strengthen economic ties among Asia-Pacific economies. As the first official intergovernmental cooperative body in the Asia-Pacific region, APEC pursues concrete benefits from economic cooperation, while respecting the diversity of the member economies. APEC adopted the decision process of consensus building and has been operating in a forum mode where opinions have been gathered through discussions and consultations rather than through binding agreements or institutional provision. However, a high probability exists that APEC will hereafter develop into a more binding economic cooperative body, as the APEC Leaders Meetings began in 1993 and the Action Agenda for the promotion of tangible economic coooperation was adopted in 1995.

PREFACE

CONTRIBUTORS

1. Bringing Politics Back In: The Political Economy of APEC/ John Ravenhill

2. The Politics of Economy Cooperation with China /Yun-Han Chu

3. Trade Imbalances and Japanese Foreign Direct Investment: Bilateral and Triangular
Issues/Masahiro Kawai and Shujiro Urata

4. Capital Liberalization, the Real Exchange Rate and Domestic Policies in Developing
Economies/Yen Kyun Wang

5. Late Industrialization under the New Economic Oreder in the Asia-Pacific /Jaymin Lee

6. Foreign Direct Investment in Developing East Asia: New Players, Pressures and
Strategies/Ku-Hyun Jung and Richard W. Moxon

7. Regional Networks and Domestic Transformation: A New Challenge for Japanese
Firms/John M Stopford