Sarah Weiß from Constance, born 1986, studied Economics and China studies at the University of Tübingen, the Free University of Berlin and Beijing University. During her studies, she gained working experience, e.g. with the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research in Kuala Lumpur and a project of the FU Berlin on Chinese refugees, as well as in the private sector with Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt and XIN TAI IT Systems in Dalian. Her project for the Mercator year is concerned with the question of how regional integration processes could be designed in economic, financial and monetary terms. She focuses on East- and Southeast Asia as well as Europe.