20 Years of Trade and Investment Liberalization in APEC: Progresses and Prospects

　　Authors: Gong Zhankui, Director, APEC Study Center, Nankai University

　　Yu Xiaoyan, Lecturer, APEC Study Center, Nankai University

　　Abstract: In the last two decades, the trade and investment liberalization process of APEC achieved improvements in the following four major areas of cooperation: tariff reduction, non-tariff measures release, services and investments. With changes to the international economic environment, the above process is facing new challenges and difficulties, both as a whole and on specific issues. In this context, for the greater good of regional economic cooperation, it is important to summarize and forecast the trade and investment liberalization process in APEC, and explore the direction of development and approaches for the APEC process. This article provides such a review through a comprehensive survey of the trade and investment data of APEC members over the past two decades. Then a discussion on the various challenges including those of achieving “Bogor Goals”, those posed by the increasingly complex web of RTA/FTA between APEC members, as well as the proposed transition from APEC to an Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP). The article also discusses some plausible approaches to resolving these issues.