Expansion and Deepening of Production Networks

This paper aims to reveal the reality of the expansion and deepening of international production networks in the East Asia region using trade statistics. In East Asia, the trade of manufactured parts occurring within regional production networks of the machinery industry, among others, has expanded over past decades and has been steadily increasing despite the recent decline in global trade as a whole. In other words, the expansion of the manufactured parts trade through East Asian production networks has not plateaued. The robustness of the manufactured parts trade through East Asian production networks is underpinned by the increase in the amount of trade within the existing trade relationships. On the other hand, there is still much room for ASEAN countries to expand and deepen their participation in East Asian production networks and to establish trade relationships of more diverse manufactured parts with more diverse trading partners.