China, Japan and South Korea have vowed to push ahead with plans for a new union that would reduce their economic dependency on the West.
The three countries, dismayed at falling levels of trade and investment from the U.S. and Europe, met in Beijing to plan for more structured levels of co-operation.
The move came as HSBC warned there is likely to be a "shift in the world's centre of economic gravity from West to East". The bank has already decided to move its chief executive, Michael Geoghegan, from London to Hong Kong next February to prepare for Asia's ascendancy.
Wen Jiabao, the Chinese prime minister, and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts, Yukio Hatoyama and Lee Myung-bak, said the three countries were "committed to the development of an East Asia community", similar to the European Union.
The idea, which is being strongly pushed by Japan, could eventually lead to a free trade block and co-operation on public health, energy and the environment.
To read full London Telegraph story — Go Here Now.
|
