EN
Examining integration in the Asia-Pacific region, with emphasis on the most important currently-negotiated mega-regional trade agreements, such as the Transpacific Partnership (TPP), Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) or the Free Trade Area Asia Pacific (FTAAP), the text offers an economic and political analysis of the history and current status of the three projects aimed at lowering trade barriers across a much wider range of sectors than under classic preferential trade agreements. The new agreements are reviewed in a broad context of changes on the global scene, in particular the growing power of China, which has become a key force behind relationships in Asia and a challenge to the strategic and economic status quo, especially to the global supremacy of the United States. Outlining the history of the agreements, their key features and the motivations and actions of the main actors, the author concludes that there is indeed a competitive and mutually stimulating relationship between them.