Asia is looking to complete a major economic agreement by early 2017 that offers the chance to lift its growth closer to potential by locking in domestic reform and liberalisation through regional cooperation. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement is Asia’s response to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and heralds the next phase in Asian economic cooperation. 

High and medium-speed rail services are expected to connect 10 major cities between Kunming in China and Singapore. But negotiations with seven Southeast Asian countries are testing Beijing's "railway diplomacy."

On Anzac Day this year, like every other year, sports will take centre stage. With the traditional blockbuster clashes in NRL and in AFL drawing the attention of a large number of the population, a day to commemorate war has become, for many, a day at the footy. Some might question the link between sport and war. But, the connections are actually well-established and they point to how sport can be used as a tool for peace and development, particularly by Australia.

China today faces a multitude of security challenges in its neighborhood, with the South China Sea leading the issues that will test China’s global strategy of peaceful development. What are the salient features of the security situation in China’s neighborhood?

SBS’s deal with the European Broadcasting Union to develop a Eurovision Song Contest equivalent in Asia is a welcome chance for Australia to develop stronger ties with the Asia-Pacific region. The development of an Asian Eurovision - an “Asiavision”, we might call it - is an exciting project for regional unity.

Netball Australia is proud to be a key partner in the Australian Government’s $1.4 million Asian Sports Partnership (ASP) program [...]. Under the program, [...] One Netball Asia which will work with countries within the Asian Netball Federation to increase participation levels among women and girls in netball and contribute to health and leadership outcomes. 

Taiwan is in the middle of an enormous national effort to promote its soft power, aiming both to improve and enrich society and at the same time stimulate growth in an era when it has lost many of the industries that drove the economy during the past 50 years as one of Asia’s original tigers.