The Asia-Pacific region is rich in natural and economic diversity.

In terms of economic development, the top countries in the world in terms of gross national product are China and Japan; the first country in the southern hemisphere is Australia.

South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong have developed into the “Four Asian Tigers” since the 1980s.

Hong Kong and Singapore are the most important international financial centers and ports in the world, and are also highly developed cities with a relatively dense population.

Japan and South Korea are important sources of technology.

Taiwan, China, occupies an important position in the global electronics industry.

There are abundant popular cultural works, and Japanese anime and video games, Korean pop music, Taiwanese Chinese pop music and Hong Kong film works all have considerable production and export volumes.

The Russian Far East, Australia, mainland China and Indonesia are rich in natural resources.

China, India and Indonesia are emerging industrial bodies with a population of over 100 million.

Australia and New Zealand have extremely high production levels in agriculture and animal husbandry.

The region includes Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, all of which are identified as having reached the level of “developed regions”.

However, the region also includes Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, East Timor, Nepal, Bangladesh, Tuvalu, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Kiribati, which are identified as the least developed countries.