Denis Hew, of Singapore's Institute of South-East Asian Studies, blames the low uptake on several factors.

ECONOMIST: Free trade in South-East Asia

"Chinese Strategic, Economic and Social View of Vietnam", edited by Gu Xiaosong and Sheng Lijun, Institute for South-East Asian Studies, Singapore, 2005.

ECONOMIST: Sources and acknowledgments

David Koh, a Vietnam expert at Singapore's Institute for South-East Asian studies, says some degree of political liberalisation is being considered, though perhaps not as much as the West would like.

ECONOMIST: How long can the party last?

"There's no question that China is very sensitive to its image, " said Stanley Rosen, an expert on the Chinese film industry, and director of the East Asian Studies Center at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

NPR: Hollywood Yielding To China's Growing Film Clout

Eddie was three weeks into a combined Asian and Pacific studies and international management course at Leeds University when he decided to travel to South East Asia.

BBC: Eddie Gibson