为了明确国际性区域经济合作的理论和实践对中国开展区域经济合作的参照性，本文对国际性区域合作的基本理论概念及其演变进行较为系统的总结和分析。首先阐述了用来描述在国家之间建立区域化、集团化合作关系的基本概念--“区域一体化”的理论内涵，然后概括分析了60年代以来，特别是冷战结束后，世界经济的区域化、集团化发展实践对“区域一体化”概念的传统理论界定的挑战，并对近年来有关世界范围内区域经济合作现象的理论概念的新发展进行了概括总结，在此基础上，提出澄清有关认识的必要性。

Aiming at getting clear about the reference implication of the theory and practice of international regional economic cooperation to intra applications in China, this paper gives an analytical introduction to the changing basic conception framework of international economic cooperation. The traditional conception of regional integration based on European experience is elaborated at first, and the major challenges faced it by the reality of international relationship in terms of cooperation and grouping in the past decades have been discussed. Then the recent academic development concerning the extending of the conception over the worldwide experiences of regional economic cooperation has been summarized.