A new phase in inter-regional ties

The Second China-Latin America and the Caribbean Think Tanks Forum is being held five years after the start of the subprime crisis. The worst and longest since 1930s, the crisis has been largely concentrated in industrialized countries.

The eurozone will remain in recession in 2013 and its 2014 GDP will remain below its 2007 level. In 2014, Germany's GDP will exceed only 4 percent of its 2007 level, while that of the United States will be 8 percent more than what it was seven years ago. This dynamism pales in comparison to China's GDP, which in the same year will be 81 percent more than the 2007 figure. For the rest of the decade, industrialized economies will continue facing low growth and high unemployment, while developing economies' growth rate will double or be more than that of industrialized economies.

Three major trends characterize the international economic scenario. First, is the increasing importance developing countries, particularly in Asia, have in the global economy - a phenomenon associated with the close ties China has been developing with Asian, African and Latin American economies. The second trend is the evolving geographical fragmentation of production around global or regional value chains. And third is the advancement toward powerful trade negotiation processes ("mega-deals") that could have a considerable impact on the ways developing countries continue to integrate into the world economy.