Posted Nov 4, 2019
Fifty years ago, life expectancy, education, and GDP in East Asia and the Pacific were well below the global average. Today, the region is home to some of the world’s largest financial centers, most innovative tech hubs, and fastest high-speed trains. For decades, Japan and the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan) led the region economically, but today no country can compare to China, whose rise has turned it into the world’s second-largest economy. This economic success has also come with greater geopolitical ambitions as China works to expand its influence around the world and as far afield as the Arctic Circle. With China rising and other Asian economies continuing to grow, this region commands our attention—because what happens here will affect the rest of the world. Learn more at: https://world101.cfr.org/rotw/east-asia