Introduction

The concept and term intra-Asian trade goes back to 1978, when it was used with reference to the rice trade (Latham 1978: 77, 94). It has been used since in the context of other trade within Asia, and the reciprocal economic growth it engenders. Trade is not seen so much as focused on particular nation states or countries, but as part of an integrated network conferring benefits to all participants. At its most basic level, rice farmers purchased factory-made textiles, and factory workers bought rice. This concept of an intra-Asian dynamism has been an important feature of our increasing understanding of modern Asian economic development, and shows a mutually responsive stimulus. This was distinct from the external forces operating on the Asian economy, powerful though they were. Since 1978 the term has been used in examining many aspects of trade within Asia, one of the most recent examples being the current editors’ collection of papers Intra-Asian Trade and the World Market (Latham and Kawakatsu 2006; see also Sugihara 2005: 4-5). The papers in this collection are for the most part written within this context, and continue to expand our knowledge of these intra-Asian trading connections and the links between industrialization and markets within Asia.