The effort to remove barriers to trade and investment has been a critical contributor to this region's economic growth. Trade and investment liberalisation - and greater integration into regional and global economic affairs - are very much in China's and Hong Kong's interests, and in the interests of Australia and other countries. It is the driving force behind the Asia-Pacific's economic dynamism.
At the regional level, we have already seen tremendous reductions in trade barriers, partly under the auspices of APEC. These have brought real benefits to Australia and its neighbours, including China and Hong Kong.
ASEAN, in particular, has cut applied tariffs on a trade-weighted basis by two-thirds and most recently Indonesia has announced further cuts. China likewise has continued to reduce its average tariff. A just announced further round of tariff cuts will bring China's rate down from 23 to 17 per cent, with a target rate of 15 per cent by the year 2000. .
Japan 18.5%, US 9.6%, South Korea 8.3%, China 6.9%, New Zealand 6.5%, UK 4.7%, Singapore 4.1%, Taiwan 4% (2002) .
It should be said that all economies, including our own, have undergone a transition from relationship-based business to a more open and rules-based approach.
The Importance of Asia .
Over the past 30 years, East Asia's rapid economic development dramatically reduced poverty levels and provided the foundations for emerging democracies in the region. Australia benefited, and continues to benefit, from this dramatic transformation.
East Asia's success also made a persuasive, and so far enduring, case for the benefits of globalisation. It offered strong support for an export-oriented, market-driven model of development. Without exception, the successful economies in the region opened themselves up to international markets, rejecting protectionism for trade liberalisation. They also opened up to foreign investment, allowing local people to gain access to foreign savings, technology and links with the global economy.