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Until 2000, East Asian countries were involved in the multilateral trade system but did not participate on a large scale in regional or bilateral trade agreements despite real de facto economic integration through a high level of intra-regional trade. Since 2000, these countries have been negotiating and ratifying numerous bilateral agreements, putting an end to the East Asian exception and bringing several issues to light, including the nature of the ongoing process, the role of trade forums such as APEC, the future of ASEAN, and Asian monetary cooperation.