In the absence of coherent regional frameworks, it is no surprise that rival structures are being built, with the US championing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will link 12 Pacific Rim countries into a vast free-trade area, governed by an advanced set of agreed rules. For its part, China is working to establish, through the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and its “Silk Road” initiative, a Sino-centric trade area that perpetuates not only its regional hegemony, but also its state-capitalist model.