China is creating a new world economic order. The route is built: why the Silk Road from China to Europe is difficult to build without Russia Silk Road summit

These days Beijing has become the world capital. From Moscow to Beijing by train in two days. Is this possible? Probably pretty soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing today to take part in the Belt and Road Forum. The forum was attended by 28 heads of state and government.

We all know about the Great Silk Road from China to Europe. It has existed for thousands of years, since the days of the Roman Empire. It was along this path that gunpowder and paper - Chinese inventions - came to Europe. Then China weakened, and the Great Silk Road was not needed. China is strong again. And several years ago he came up with the initiative of a new project - the revival of the great path. And even more. This is not just a path. This is a project to involve most of the Eurasian countries in a single economic space.

The construction of a high-speed railway from the Pacific to the Atlantic is in the plans of this ambitious project. Therefore, it will really be possible to travel from Moscow to Beijing by train in two days.

If we talk about this initiative as a whole, “One Belt - One Road”, it is still difficult to even assess the total investment. But it is clear that we will be talking about trillions of dollars. And Russia, with its vast territory, natural resources, and scientific potential, can play the first roles in this project.

The opening ceremony is more than laconic - more than three years after the first mention by the Chinese of the grandiose project "One Belt - One Road" on the forum, decorations are no longer needed to attract attention. There are almost three dozen heads of state in the hall. Those who are called friends in the Celestial Empire are in the first row, to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Rajep Erdogan, to the right is Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader took the podium second. And his speech went far beyond formal words about Russian-Chinese friendship. Putin spoke about the future of all of Eurasia, a partnership that could change the political and economic landscape of the entire continent, and perhaps the whole world.

“Many previous models and factors economic development practically exhausted. Protectionism is becoming the norm, and its hidden form is unilateral illegitimate restrictions, including on the supply and distribution of technology. The ideas of openness and freedom of trade are increasingly rejected today. And often by those who have recently been their champion. Imbalances in socio-economic development, the crisis of the previous model of globalization lead to negative consequences for relations between states, for international security.

Poverty, social disorder, a colossal gap in the level of development of countries and regions give rise to a breeding ground for international terrorism, extremism, and illegal migration. We will not be able to cope with these challenges if we do not overcome stagnation, stagnation in global economic development, ”said Vladimir Putin.

The Eurasian mega-project "One Belt - One Road" is in fact the same Great Silk Road along which caravans with gunpowder, spices and silk went from Asia to Europe even before our era.

The modern interpretation of the Silk Road combines land transport corridors, railways, above all, and sea transport routes. Southern, from China - to Greece, skirting the coast of Asia and the East. And the Northern - in other words, the Russian Northern Sea Route, the potential of which was reminded today by Vladimir Putin.

“We are consistently modernizing the maritime, railway, automobile infrastructure, expanding throughput Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways. Significant resources are being invested in the development of the Northern Sea Route so that it becomes a global competitive transport artery. More broadly, the infrastructure projects announced within the EurAsEC and the Belt and Road Initiative, in conjunction with the Northern Sea Route, are capable of creating a fundamentally new transport configuration for the Eurasian continent. And this is the key to the development of territories, the revival of economic and investment activity. Let's build such roads of development and prosperity together, ”said Vladimir Putin.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Russian president spoke, as diplomats say, on his feet with Turkish leader Recep Erdogan. All in all, representatives of hundreds of countries are in Beijing. Nobody wants to be on the sidelines of the new Silk Road. Many capitals on the way from Beijing to London are counting on multi-billion dollar investments from the Middle Kingdom. Russia is among those countries that are ready to independently invest in the future of a united Eurasia.

“Russia is ready not only to trade, but also to invest in the creation of joint ventures and new industries on the territory of the partner countries, in the development of industrial assembly, sales and services. It is important that the entrepreneurs of our countries make money together and achieve success, create competitive technological and production alliances. For such cooperation to be effective, it is necessary to move towards unification, and in the long term - towards the development of uniform standards, norms of technical regulation both for traditional industrial and agricultural products, and for new high-tech products, ”the Russian president said.

Even the melody of the song "Moscow Windows", which Vladimir Putin sang on the piano in anticipation of the start of a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader, in the spirit of a world without borders.

In China, they highly appreciate the fact that Russia opposes the policy of protectionism, the fact that, despite the sanctions, it overcame the difficulties in development and refrained from militant rhetoric.

“In the face of a difficult, rapidly changing situation in the world, China and Russia have shown a sense of responsibility as great states, making efforts to achieve a political settlement of the situation in Syria, the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, have played a stabilizing role in ensuring peace,” Xi Jinping said.

“We need new mechanisms of cooperation as never before, opening doors for each other, removing various barriers and obstacles. We managed to overcome negative trends and achieve a resumption of growth in bilateral trade - by 4% in 2016, and in January-March this year, the growth rate was already 37%. But what is especially important and what makes us happy is that the structure of our trade is changing, the share of mechanical engineering and agricultural products is increasing. Moreover, these are flows in both directions, ”said Vladimir Putin.

The leaders of the two countries discussed the further development of relations behind closed doors. We were again in the field of view of television cameras only during a working breakfast.

Russian Reception House in one of the mansions. Following his Chinese friend, Putin receives European friends: the leaders of the Czech Republic and Greece.

The meeting with Milos Zeman immediately went beyond the formal protocol. The fact that this would be a friendly conversation became obvious when the Czech president refused to have an interpreter and turned to Minister Lavrov in Russian.

Milos Zeman: “Mr. Minister, are you also a smoker like me? But Mr. President forbids smoking. "

Sergei Lavrov: "Not so much Mr. President as our State Duma."

Vladimir Putin: "Several years ago we are also here in China, we met on the sidelines of an international event ... Translation?"

Milos Zeman: “No need to translate, we all understand, some kind of Russian dialect. Maybe a dialect of Russia. "

Vladimir Putin: "Literary Russian language".

Milos Zeman: "Yes!"

Vladimir Putin: “In the economic sphere, despite the recession of previous years, we have seen an increase in trade turnover at the beginning of this year. Even more than 44%. This is a good sign and a good trend that we will need to maintain. "

Milos Zeman: "The number of tourists is growing, this is very positive."

At the talks with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, there was no way without translators. And all the same, things are going uphill - the flow of tourists and trade between Moscow and Athens are growing. Integration cooperation of Eurasian countries already now not only brings billions of dollars in profits and hundreds of thousands of jobs, but also helps to overcome social disorder and the gap at the level of development of countries. However, each of the regions of the vast continent still has a list of unresolved problems.

The Russian delegation brought to the forum ready-made solution- the project "Energy Ring" developed by Moscow. Moscow has long been ready to start deliveries. They are all the more relevant now that China is thinking about the electric silk road - the Asian ultra-high voltage network. And, judging by the way Vladimir Putin is received in China, it is obvious that Russia and its neighbors on the continent have more than one project of this scale ahead of them.

After a meeting with the premier of the Chinese State Council, a joint photo of the prime ministers and presidents, the evening of distinguished guests of Beijing continued with a gala dinner. The first toast was from the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.

When it got dark outside, the participants of the first forum "One Belt - One Road" were also waiting for a gala concert at the Chinese Bolshoi Theater. At first glance, it is quite a traditional oriental show, but if you look closely, it is a mixture of cultural traditions of the entire continent.

The transport artery from East to West, from China to Western Europe, is the most ambitious transport project in recent decades. All this is about the "New Silk Road".

In September 2013, the Head of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping proposed new idea this ambitious project called "One Belt - One Road". The essence of the idea is to combine the transport infrastructure of Eurasia into a single and integral system, according to which China will be able to freely export and import goods (manufactured goods, products light industry, Natural resources etc.) to the European Union and other countries of the continent.

What does this mean in practical terms? China is involved in the construction of various transport infrastructure, namely railways, highways, ports and pipelines.

As a result of the implementation of this project, the transport system of the PRC should receive "points of contact" with transport systems Western countries, first of all, the countries of the European Union and, possibly, the United Kingdom, which will allow China to increase trade with its consumers from this region. And this - additional income for the Chinese economy. These are huge markets, where, according to some experts, China has not been deliberately invited for a long time.

What has been done and what will be done in the future? So far, the Chinese leadership is primarily engaged in diplomatic negotiations with a number of countries, including Russia and Kazakhstan.

For the needs of the project, the Silk Road Company investment fund was created, which has at its disposal $ 40 billion. In the future, the Chinese leadership expects support from a number of European and Islamic countries in financing the construction of certain facilities that can benefit not only the New Silk Road, but also the infrastructure of those states on whose territory they will be built.

The main part of the project should go by land (rail). It will consist of 3 parts (corridors). The northern part of the railway should go through Russia, and the southern and central parts - through Kazakhstan and other countries of the region. After connecting the railways of the East and West, it is planned to build highways.

Opinion: experts in the field of geopolitics assure that our country has its own ambitions, and it is not so important for us (enough) to be a part of the Chinese project, the Chinese world. But at the same time, both states are looking for points of closer interaction, since a role has appeared for Russia in, and for Russia, China is a profitable investor.

The main part of the project is the route from China to the European Union through the territory of Central Asia. Its length should be about 6,500 kilometers. The route of this path is as follows: China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Iraq-Syria-Turkey-European Union.

The sea part of the route must pass along the shores of China, the countries of Southeast Asia, India and Egypt, thus reaching the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.

What about implementation? So far, the main achievement of the "New Silk Road" is the opening of the longest railway (freight) track in the world - Harbin-Hamburg, which passes through the territory of Russia (in February this year, a new railway track was opened between Harbin and Yekaterinburg).

In general, the project can play a very positive role for the world economy, including the Russian and Kazakh, but the main part of the route bypasses the territory of Russia, so it is too early to talk about the real results of this project.

For the economy of Kazakhstan, one of the most significant projects in the implementation of the concept of this project was the construction of a railway line with a length of 293 kilometers between Zhetygen and Korgas. This Railway has already become part of the Chongqin-Duisburg highway.

Silk Road Summit in China May 14-15, 2017

The leaders of 28 countries, including the Russian president, are coming to China. The International Belt and Road Summit begins in Beijing. The forum will bring together representatives of 110 states and 20 international organizations. This is the first time that China is gathering such a representative assembly in the field of economics. Sim, an application for international economic leadership is being made.

According to press reports, Beijing intends to sign two dozen agreements with the countries of the new.

Russia does not belong to the countries of the Silk Road, but the press calls our country the main ally of China.

In addition to Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Pakistan - Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Cambodia - Hun Sen, and the Prime Minister of Italy - Paolo Gentiloni are expected.

Interestingly, Crimea was previously part of the Silk Road, while Russia did not give public signals that it was ready to let China build its port here. And in Europe, not everyone wants to see cheap Chinese goods that can easily crowd out local producers. There is talk of protectionism. However, the United States is also looking at the rise of the Celestial Empire with apprehension. A separate and very complex issue is China's relationship with the Islamic world.

The scandal began on Sunday, May 14, in Beijing, a summit dedicated to the China-initiated New Silk Road Project (NSR). Representatives of EU states, after discussing a number of trade issues with the Chinese side, refused to sign the planned joint statement, dpa agency reported, citing informed sources.

Context

According to them, the PRC rejected proposals from European partners regarding compliance with social and environmental standards, as well as transparency and the provision of government orders in the implementation of the NSP project, after which the leaders of the EU countries notified Beijing that they would not sign the statement.

In addition, the atmosphere of the forum was overshadowed by reports that the DPRK conducted regular tests of a ballistic missile, which rose to an altitude of about 2,000 meters above sea level and flew about 700 kilometers.

China to contribute another 100 billion yuan to the NSP project fund

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was present at the talks, announced that China will donate an additional 100 billion yuan (almost 13 billion euros) to the New Silk Road Fund to finance the project, which was announced at the end of 2013.

Representatives of more than 100 countries, including 29 heads of state and government, are participating in the Belt and Road Summit on NSP issues, which will last until May 15.

Silk Summit paths will pass May 14-15 in Beijing. Participation in it was confirmed by the heads of state and government of 30 countries, as well as the heads of a number of international organizations - the UN, IMF, World Bank and WTO.

According to Yuri Ushakov, aide to the President of the Russian Federation, the Russian president will propose initiatives to develop cost-effective transport routes at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing.

“Our President, together with the President of the People's Republic of China and the UN Secretary General, will speak at the opening ceremony of the forum. This means that Vladimir Vladimirovich will present a Russian vision of the prospects for economic development on the Eurasian continent. He will propose a number of specific initiatives to build the shortest cost-effective and efficient transport routes through the territory of Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union for the delivery of goods all the way from the Atlantic to the Pacific, ”he said.

The Chinese Embassy in Moscow explained to Gazeta.Ru that there is a lot of confusion in the very name of the project of the new Silk Road and the forum to be held in Beijing. This is a high-level forum for international cooperation within the Belt and Road (Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road). “The goal of the project is to jointly build the Belt and Road, which will make it possible to better use the advantages of each participating country and turn economic mutual complementarity into new development drivers not only for China, but also for the world economy,” explained Gazeta.Ru.

China does not impose itself on anyone

The project can only be implemented “on the basis of common interests and shared responsibility,” the embassy said, adding that China does not impose participation in the project on anyone.

While 40 states, including key European countries, have signed bilateral cooperation agreements with China, the European market is viewed by the Chinese authorities as a key one for exporters. However, representatives of Argentina, the Philippines and Sri Lanka also expressed interest in the project. Official Beijing makes it clear that in the future the Silk Road can be laid not only to Europe, but also to the countries of Central Asia and Africa.

China proposed the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB) initiative back in 2013.

And in 2016, China's total trade with countries along the Silk Road was already $ 954 billion, or 25.7% of global trade.

The most difficult thing for Russia is to effectively fit into the implementation of a large-scale Chinese project. At a briefing on Friday, Ushakov clarified that Putin will just propose initiatives to combine the various integration processes taking place in Europe and Asia, based on the universal principles and norms of the WTO.

The first steps of Russia in this direction were made back in May 2015, when a joint statement was signed on cooperation to connect the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Eurasian Economic Union. President Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin discussed the details of such a pairing more than once, most recently on the sidelines of the SCO and BRICS summits in Ufa. At present, experts from Moscow State University and the Academy of Social Sciences of the PRC are preparing the concept of the Greater Eurasian Partnership.

This concept implies the construction of a high-speed Moscow-Beijing highway and the Power of Siberia gas transmission pipeline. The Silk Road may include the capabilities of the BAM and Transsib, as well as the capacities of the Far East port. Putin will talk at the forum about the advantages of transport corridors operating in Russia, Ushakov explained.

“For example, joint investments of companies of the two countries in various projects have become a practical dimension.

In the non-energy sector alone, projects worth over $ 15 billion are already being implemented.

Another dimension is the negotiations on a trade and economic agreement with China. The forum can give a new impetus to these negotiations, ”a federal official attending the Beijing forum explained to Gazeta.Ru.

The Russian delegation includes business representatives - the head of Russian Railways Oleg Belozerov, the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, the chairman supervisory board Basic Element Oleg Deripaska, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, head of Gazprom Alexey Miller, owner of Volga Group Gennady Timchenko, head of NOVATEK Leonid Mikhelson. However, as noted by Ushakov, Russia and China do not plan to sign any major agreements following the results of the talks between the leaders of the two states. Ushakov noted that such agreements are planned to be signed later, during Xi Jinping's visit to Russia.

However, on Saturday, May 13, it became known that RDIF, the Russian-Chinese Investment Fund, a number of Middle Eastern investment funds and the Vi Holding group of companies agreed on joint investments in a project to develop the territory of the former Tushino airfield in north-west Moscow. The total investment in the project will amount to over 90 billion rubles. The corresponding agreement was signed on the 13th during Putin's visit to China.

Even if the Silk Road project does not bring real benefits to Russia, China will still remain a key economic partner for Russia. Now the PRC's share in Russia's foreign trade turnover is 14%. At the end of 2016, trade grew by 4%, to $ 66 billion. By the end of the first quarter of 2017, trade between Russia and China increased in dollar terms by 29.3% ($ 18.5 billion).

The fact that the negative trends in the trade between the two countries have been overcome was confirmed by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. “In trade with Russia, we are restoring the previous dynamics. The recovery began in the first half of last year. The very structure of import and export is changing, ”says the director of the department of countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China Gui Cunyun.

“Earlier, following the visit of Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Zhang Gaoli and his meeting with Putin, 99% of contracts worth $ 90 billion were agreed upon,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

During a meeting with First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Igor Shuvalov at the fourth meeting of the Russian-Chinese Intergovernmental Commission on Investment Cooperation in April, the idea of ​​creating two funds was approved that will invest in the Russian mining and metallurgical industries, as well as in infrastructure and development projects. Contracts are being prepared in the field of automobile and aircraft construction, space, metallurgy.

Russia drives oil and gas to China

However, oil and gas remain the basis of trade. At the end of last year, Russia came out on top in terms of oil exports to China (52.5 million tons), ahead of Saudi Arabia.

A project is also being implemented to build a gas pipeline in China, which provides for the annual supply of 38 billion cubic meters of gas. With the participation of Chinese partners, the Yamal LNG project is being promoted, and the construction of the second stage of two power units at the Tianwan NPP is underway.

There are agreements on the construction of a long-range wide-body aircraft and a heavy civilian helicopter. There is also a chance for Chinese interest in the high-speed Moscow-Kazan highway.

“The development of the Chinese concept of the Silk Road Economic Belt promises a number of benefits for both Russia and the EAEU as a whole,” said Evgeny Vinokurov, Director of the Center for Integration Studies of the Eurasian Development Bank.

One of economic effects can be achieved as a result of an increase in freight traffic along the China-Europe axis, the expert believes. The potential of trans-Eurasian transit can be estimated at 4% of the traffic currently going by sea.

According to him, we are talking about premium high-margin cargo.

The development of transport corridors passing through Russia is useful for increasing the connectivity of the inner regions of Russia - the Urals and Siberia. If transport meridians develop in Russia, China, the Eurasian Union, and even the countries of Central Asia will benefit from this.

The Chinese mega-project also has a downside. Unprofitable for Russia. When the Silk Road project gains traction, it will create problems for Russian business... He will have to compete even harder with Chinese goods- in Russia, in the Eurasian market and loyal markets of Central Asia and North Africa.

As a result, the Chinese partners will become competitors.

Russian Ambassador to the People's Republic of China Andrei Denisov strongly disagrees with this formulation of the question. “I didn’t notice the competition. On the contrary, Russia and China are big partners, and we need to use our advantages, ”the ambassador told Gazeta.Ru at a briefing in Beijing.

The Russian president may take part in the Silk Road summit, which will take place on May 14-15 this year in Beijing. As the Russian ambassador to China Andrei Denisov told the press, Vladimir Putin has already received an invitation from the President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping.

Vladimir Putin will presumably take part in the forum while on a working visit to Beijing. The summit will become an integral part of the "One Belt - One Road" strategy, proclaimed by Xi Jinping in 2013, which includes the creation of the "Silk Road Economic Belt" and "21st Century Maritime Silk Road." The main goal of the project is to create a transport and logistics system connecting China with the countries of the Eurasian continent. According to experts, Russian leader will become the main guest of the May summit in Beijing.

Today, most of the cargo is delivered from China by sea: it is relatively inexpensive, but it takes a long time, in any case, until the launch of the Northern Sea Route. For example, a sea container ship takes about 30-40 days to reach the ports of St. Petersburg.

Over the past years, Beijing has been negotiating with a number of states - potential participants in the project, looking for the most promising routes for the overland trade route. So far, land transportation accounts for only 6% of cargo coming from China, and most of it is transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Despite the fact that Russia and China are strategic partners, Beijing is actively testing alternative trade and transport routes bypassing the Russian Federation. This tactic is explained by the desire to diversify transportation routes.

China also expects to stimulate the development of its western regions, which will have direct access to the markets of transit countries.

Path schemes

The first and most risky route was to go through Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. However, these plans of the Chinese leadership were upset by the expansion of the "Islamic State" *, which spread outside Syria in 2014. It is possible that Beijing will return in the future to the creation of the Middle East branch of the Silk Road, but for this, terrorist activity in the region must first be suppressed.

Another thread of the trade route - the Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM, also called the Silk Wind) - was supposed to stretch through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.

The main disadvantage of the route is the presence of two sea crossings - through the Caspian and Black seas. To optimize the movement, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway is being built, the launch of which will make it possible to abandon the ferry crossing the Black Sea. But even a single crossing of the Caspian Sea can greatly impede the passage of goods. According to the most encouraging estimates, the journey along the Silk Wind route may take about two weeks, but any storm in the Caspian can extend this period.

The third route also runs bypassing Russia - through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine.

In January last year, a trial train was sent from the port of Chernomorsk (Odessa region) to China. Deputy Minister of Infrastructure of Ukraine Volodymyr Omelyan estimated the duration of the route at 10-12 days (the official even allowed the transit period to be reduced to 9 days in the future), but the train went to China for 15 days, crossing the Caspian and Black Sea by ferries. And this despite the fact that the trial train left Chernomorsk without cargo for faster passage of border procedures.

Another Ukrainian train, sent by the Ukrainian authorities to China in early 2016, was simply lost on the territory of Kazakhstan. According to media reports, the train was detained in Karaganda region due to non-payment of transit fees.

As a result, the most successful was the "Russian" route: Kazakhstan - Russia - Belarus - Poland.

The train, loaded with Chinese goods, drove through European territory and arrived in London on January 18, 2017, having covered 12 thousand kilometers in 18 days without any overlays. The success of this trend was quite predictable. There are no sea crossings or mountain ranges on the route, it is also optimal from the point of view of military-political risks - the states along which it runs are not subject to political cataclysms. Another advantage is the membership of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus in the EAEU: uniform customs regulations facilitate the transit of goods across borders.

“Alternative routes turned out to be not very profitable, in this case, the big question is what goods will go in trains back to China. This is necessary for the economic loading of transport routes. In this sense, the possibilities of the Russian direction may seem more attractive, for example, we can talk about the supply of raw materials to the PRC, "the chief Researcher The Institute Of the Far East RAS Vladimir Petrovsky.

Problem points

However, there are problems in the trade and economic interaction between the RF and the PRC. Even taking into account all the advantages of this cooperation, many issues still need to be resolved - and not least on the Russian side. In particular, experts note shortcomings in the Russian transport infrastructure. Built back under Nicholas II, the Trans-Siberian Railway still remains the main transport hub connecting the eastern and western parts of Russia. The highway is fully loaded with domestic traffic and, in its current state, will simply not be able to withstand the increase in transit traffic from China.

“Russia has to do very serious homework, in particular, it is necessary to modernize both the BAM and the Trans-Siberian Railway, now there are problems with the safety and speed of movement of goods,” Petrovsky said. - Another important aspect is the readiness of the Russian side to participate in the project of legislative interface. As an example: the project "Eurasian transport highway", which should go through the Orenburg region and the Urals to the West. China has already built its part of the path, but there is no movement from the Russian side due to imperfection legal regulations on public-private partnership for a period of more than 10 years. This is already a question strategic planning there is still a lot to be done. "

A similar point of view is shared by the Director of the Coordination Center of the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs "Economic Belt of the Silk Road" Vladimir Remyga.

“The average speed of trains moving along the Trans-Siberian Railway is 11.7 km / h, this is the speed of a cyclist. The highway is overloaded, there are many sections where traffic is slowed down, ”the expert noted in an interview with RT.

The Trans-Siberian Railway needs investments and modernization, but Beijing can stake on a different route: a high-speed highway has already been built to the border with Kazakhstan, this year its second part will be put into operation, going through Kazakhstan's territory.

However, despite all the difficulties, both Russia and China are interested in cooperation - we are talking not only about the transit route, but about the comprehensive combination of the Silk Road and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) projects.

For Beijing, cooperation with the EAEU means that the Silk Road has reached a fundamentally new level. And Moscow, for its part, is interested in investing in its infrastructure.

“Russia is counting on investments in the development of Russian infrastructure, including transport systems, it is the basis of the economic component of the Silk Road. But these investments will have to be received on a competitive basis, an intense joint work, - said Vladimir Petrovsky. "Connecting to the Silk Road is a chance for Russia to qualitatively improve its infrastructure, including transport."

Unified philosophy

In addition, Moscow expects to involve China in its integration projects, the scale of which is not inferior to China's "One Belt, One Road" plan.

  • Reuters

In May 2015, the President of Russia and the Chairman of the PRC signed a joint statement on cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the trans-Eurasian trade and infrastructure project of the Silk Road economic belt. As explained by the aide to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov, the purpose of the integration of integration projects is "to build a common economic space on the entire Eurasian continent."

As Vladimir Putin explained in an interview with RIA Novosti in the fall of 2016, in the future, the process of cooperation between the EAEU and the Silk Road can become the basis for the formation of a Greater Eurasian Partnership with the participation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

“This initiative (to combine the EAEU and the Silk Road. — RT.) assumes new approaches to the formation of the world economic order, this is its strength and philosophy. It differs markedly from American projects such as the Trans-Pacific and Transatlantic Partnerships, where there is one leader - the United States. And the projects of Moscow and Beijing are based on the principles of equality, the basic principle is the mutual benefit of all participants. We can say that the EAEU and the Silk Road have one philosophy, and they can complement each other, ”Vladimir Remyga emphasized.

* "Islamic State"— a terrorist group banned on the territory of Russia.

 

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