Asian regionalism and the shaping of state-owned enterprises rules in trade agreements

ABSTRACT This article explores Asian regionalism in the context of rule-making for cross-border regulation of State-owned enterprises (SOEs). Asian regionalism is defined by the normative integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which features a ‘hard-law obligations with structured flexibility’ paradigm in handling systematic conflicts. On the intra-regional level, the ASEAN aims to create a level-playing field through soft harmonization of competition law and policy. On the multilateral level, several ASEAN countries joined the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which contains a set of rules dedicated to SOEs. These rules are paradigmatic of the emerging trend in cross-border SOE regulation. This article investigates whether and how the ASEAN way of structured flexibility is manifest in the emerging international rules on SOEs and its implications for cross-border SOE regulation.