Subregional Economic Zones and Integration in East Asia
tion. These analysts realize that an informal type of economic integration is shaping East Asia as an economic region.1 Although scholarly interest in informal integration of East Asia has subsided since the 1997-1998 Asian financial crisis, in part because many of the informal factors are linked to "crony capitalism," economic networks are still highly relevant to Asian integration and development.2 One particular example of the changed situation in the region is the decline of the Japanese-led regional production networks. This article investigates new forms of regional integration in East Asia and finds that subregional economic zones (SREZs) are playing a growing role in East Asian integration. (See Figure 1.) Although SREZs have never received much attention in the West, they are quietly changing the geo-economy (economic conditions affected by geographical factors) of East Asia, working together with economic networks. This article attempts to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date study of subregional economic zones and their patterns of development.