What Could CAFTA Learn From NAFTA?

Regional economic integration has become one of the leading features of the world. In view of development, international economic relations are changing from contests among nations to competitions among regional economic organizations; changing from negotiations among nations to coordination among regional organizations. When actively participating in the globalization process, presently China is promoting the CAFTA scheme. The Framework Agreement on China-ASEAN Comprehensive Economic Co-operation was signed between China and ASEAN. The North American Free Trade Area (NAFTA) as one of a typical cases for regional economic integration made a reference to how to carry on a cooperation between nations whose economic development are in very different level.China and the ASEAN members, except Singapore, are all developing countries. The resource and labor-intensive industries form main body of the national economies. The differences in respective resource composition, industrial structure and consumption levels testify the strong complementarities between China and ASEAN. This is an internal condition for both to take active part in regional economic exchanges and cooperation.Firstly, in the Paper, it tells what political and economic advantages could the member nations benefit from the regional free trade arrangement, based on the regional economic integration theory and interdependence economic theory. Writer believes that the CAFTA could learn from the NAFTA, for example, in aspects of the economic relation and operational mechanisms, considering that these have referential value on the establishment of CAFTA. Furthermore, some practical ideas and suggestion are given as for how to promote the CAFTA cooperation scheme, how to improve the operational system and how to upgrade the regional industrial structure.It is concluded that, the NAFTA's experience has high referential value to the CAFTA. Step by step a super-state structure shall be established, China and ten ASEAN nations shall all benefit from the free trade cooperation scheme to make a common prosperity through complementary cooperation in equal and mutual benefit manner. A open regionalism has been accepted by China and ASEAN. The China-ASEAN free trade scheme is feasible.