The summit on the new "Silk Road" began with a scandal. "Silk Road": China cannot exist without Russia Silk Road Summit

These days, Beijing has become the capital of the world. From Moscow to Beijing by train in two days. Is it possible? Possibly quite soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing today to take part in the Belt and Road Forum. 28 heads of states and governments arrived at the forum.

We all know about the Great Silk Road from China to Europe. It has existed for thousands of years, since the time 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 a few years ago he came up with the initiative of a new project - the revival of the great path. And even more. It's not just a path. This is a project to involve the majority of Eurasian countries in the common economic space.

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

Speaking in general about this initiative, "One Belt - One Road", it is still difficult to even estimate the total investment. But it is clear that we will be talking about trillions of dollars. And Russia, with its vast expanse, reserves of 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 One Belt - One Road project at 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 front row, to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to the right - Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader came to the podium second. And his speech went far beyond formal words about Russian-Chinese friendship. Putin talked about the future of all of Eurasia, a partnership that could change the political and economic landscape of the entire continent, and perhaps the entire world.

“Many previous models and factors of economic development are practically exhausted. Protectionism is becoming the norm, and its hidden form is unilateral illegitimate restrictions, including on the supply and dissemination of technologies. The ideas of openness and freedom of trade are increasingly rejected today. And often by those who quite recently acted as their champion. Imbalances in social economic development, the crisis of the previous model of globalization leads 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 create a breeding ground for international terrorism, extremism, and illegal migration. We will not cope with these challenges if we do not overcome stagnation and stagnation in global economic development,” Vladimir Putin said.

The Eurasian megaproject “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, primarily, and maritime transport routes. Southern, from China - to Greece, skirting the shores of Asia and the East. And the Northern - in other words, the Russian Northern Sea Route, the potential of which Vladimir Putin reminded today.

“We are consistently modernizing maritime, rail and road 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. Looking more broadly, the infrastructure projects announced within the framework of the EurAsEC and the One Belt, One 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 pave such roads for development and prosperity together,” Vladimir Putin said.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Russian president spoke, as diplomats say, on his feet with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In total, representatives of hundreds of countries come to Beijing. Nobody wants to be on the sidelines of the new Silk Road. In many capitals on the way from Beijing to London, they are counting on multibillion-dollar investments from China. 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 production facilities on the territory of partner countries, in the development of industrial assembly, marketing and service services. It is important that the entrepreneurs of our countries earn and succeed together, create competitive technological and industrial alliances. For such cooperation to be effective, it is necessary to move towards unification, and in the long term - towards the development of common standards, technical regulation norms for both 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 performed on the piano in anticipation of the start of a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader, is in the spirit of a world without borders.

China highly appreciates the fact that Russia opposes the policy of protectionism, the fact that, despite the sanctions, it has overcome difficulties in development and refrained from militant rhetoric.

"In the face of the complex, rapidly changing situation in the world, China and Russia have shown a sense of responsibility as great powers, making efforts to politically resolve the situation in Syria, the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, and played a stabilizing role in ensuring peace," Xi Jinping said.

“More than ever, we need new mechanisms for cooperation, opening doors for each other, removing various barriers and obstacles. We managed to overcome the negative trends and achieve a resumption of growth in bilateral trade - by 4% in 2016, and in January-March of this year, the growth rate was already 37%. But what is especially important and what pleases us is that the structure of our trade turnover is changing, the share of engineering and agricultural products is increasing. Moreover, these are flows in both directions,” Vladimir Putin noted.

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

Russian reception house in one of the mansions. Following the 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. That this would be a friendly conversation became clear when the Czech president refused 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: “A few years ago, here in China, we also met with you on the sidelines of an international event... Translation?”

Milos Zeman: “There is 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 decline in 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 tourist flow and trade between Moscow and Athens are growing. The integration cooperation of the countries of Eurasia 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 in 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 turnkey solution- the Energy Ring project 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 network of ultra-high voltage. 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 magnitude ahead.

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 is from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

When it was already dark outside, the participants of the first Belt and Road Forum 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.

China has been unsuccessfully building a route around Russia over the past years, and seems to have come to the conclusion that without Russia, the Silk Road will not take place. On May 14-15, 2017, the Silk Road Summit will be held in Beijing, where the President of Russia was invited. According to RT experts, Vladimir Putin will be the main guest of the summit.

The One Belt, One Road strategy is to create a transport and logistics system linking China with the countries of the Eurasian continent.

"Maritime Silk Road XXI century." - most of the cargo is delivered from China by sea through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. Today it is a relatively inexpensive way, but too long. For example, it takes about 30-40 days for a sea container ship to reach the ports of St. Petersburg.

The "Economic Belt of the Silk Road" is a land route with which difficulties arose. So far, overland transportation accounts for only 6% of cargo coming from China, and most of it is transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The capacity of the Trans-Siberian Railway is enough to transport a huge amount of cargo. But there are problems. For example, a railroad track. Ever since the time of Tsar Nicholas I, the railway gauge in Russia (1520 mm) does not coincide with the European one (1435 mm) and, as a result, with the Chinese one.


Previously, the wagons were actually rearranged from one platform to another. Losses were insignificant - about 2 hours for 16-18 wagons. Now Russian Railways has created special platforms of a new generation with automatic changes in the width of wheelsets at speeds up to 60 km/h. With them, temporary losses were leveled.

The Trans-Siberian needs investment and modernization.

"Russia is counting on investments in the development of Russian infrastructure, including transport systems, this is the basis of the economic component of the Silk Road. But these investments will have to be received on a competitive basis, it will be necessary to teamwork, said the chief Researcher Institute Far East RAS Vladimir Petrovsky. “Connecting to the Silk Road is a chance for Russia to qualitatively improve infrastructure, including transport.”

Land schemes
The first and most risky route was to pass through Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. But the war in Syria and Daesh prevented the plan from being carried out. Perhaps, then China will return to this option.

Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TMTM) - was supposed to pass through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. But the presence of two sea crossings across the Caspian and Black Seas makes it difficult for cargo to pass through. Two weeks is a minimum, and any storm can delay the transit of cargo.

The third way around Russia is through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. The same problems arose as those of the TMTM project - sea crossings. The trial train without cargo traveled in 15 days due to the lack of customs checks.

The fourth option is the "Russian" route through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. The train loaded with Chinese goods arrived in London on January 18, 2017, having covered 12,000 kilometers in 18 days without any problems. The membership of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus in the EAEU helped to save time on the transit of goods across borders. There are no sea crossings or mountain ranges on the way.

Russia and China are interested in cooperation - in combining the projects of the Silk Road and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). In the future, the process of cooperation between the EAEU and the Silk Road can become the basis for the formation of the Greater Eurasian Partnership with the participation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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

Context

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

In addition, the atmosphere of the forum was darkened by reports that the DPRK conducted another test of a ballistic missile, which rose to a height of about 2,000 meters above sea level and flew about 700 kilometers.

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

Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was present at the talks, announced that China would transfer 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 work of the One Belt, One Road summit on the NSR, which will last until May 15.

The Russian president may take part in the Silk Road summit, which will be held on May 14-15 this year in Beijing. Andrey Denisov, Russian Ambassador to China, told the press that Vladimir Putin had already received an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Vladimir Putin is expected to 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 and including the creation of the “Economic Belt of the Silk Road” and the “Maritime Silk Road of the 21st century.” The main goal of the project is to create a transport and logistics system linking China with the countries of the Eurasian continent. As the experts point out, Russian leader will be the chief 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, at least until the launch of the Northern Sea Route. For example, it takes about 30-40 days for a sea container ship 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, groping for the most promising routes for the overland trade route. So far, overland transportation accounts for only 6% of cargo coming from China, and most of it is transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Although Russia and China are strategic partners, Beijing is actively testing alternative trade and transport routes that bypass 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 receive direct access to the markets of transit countries.

Path schemes

The first and most risky route was to pass through Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. However, these plans of the Chinese leadership were upset by the expansion of the "Islamic State" *, which spread beyond 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, another name - 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 movement, a Railway Baku-Tbilisi-Kars, the launch of which will allow abandoning the ferry crossing across the Black Sea. But even one crossing through the Caspian Sea can greatly complicate the passage of goods. According to the most encouraging estimates, the route along the Silk Wind route may take about two weeks, but any storm in the Caspian can extend this time.

The third route also runs around 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 Seas on 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, simply got 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 "Russian" route became the most successful: 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 direction 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 and 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: common 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 back to China in the trains. 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 China, ”said Vladimir Petrovsky, chief researcher at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

Problem points

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

“Russia must 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 believes. - Another important aspect is the willingness of the Russian side to participate in the legislative interface project. As an example: the project "Eurasian transport highway", which should pass through the Orenburg region and the Urals to the West. China has already built its part of the road, but there is no movement on the Russian side due to imperfections legal regulations on public-private partnership for a period of more than 10 years. It's already a question strategic planning there is still a lot to be done.”

Vladimir Remyga, Director of the Coordinating Center of the International Congress of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs "The Economic Belt of the Silk Road", shares a similar point of view.

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

The Trans-Siberian needs investment and modernization, but Beijing may bet on a different route: a high-speed line to the border with Kazakhstan has already been built, and this year the second part of it, going through Kazakhstan, will be put into operation.

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

For Beijing, cooperation with the EAEU means that the Silk Road will reach 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, this is the basis of the economic component of the Silk Road. But these investments will have to be received on a competitive basis, hard joint work will be needed, - Vladimir Petrovsky noted. “Connecting to the Silk Road is a chance for Russia to qualitatively improve infrastructure, including transport.”

Unified philosophy

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

  • Reuters

In May 2015, the President of Russia and the President of China signed a joint statement on cooperation within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Trans-Eurasian Trade and Infrastructure Project of the Economic Belt Silk Road. As Yury Ushakov, aide to the President of the Russian Federation, explained, the goal of conjugating integration projects is "building a common economic space throughout the 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 could 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.) suggests 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 Partnership, 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 the same philosophy, and they can complement each other,” Vladimir Remyga emphasized.

* Islamic State— terrorist group banned in Russia.

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

In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed new idea this ambitious project called "One Belt - One Road". The essence of the idea is to unite the transport infrastructure of Eurasia into a single and integral system, through 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 engaged in the construction of various infrastructure in the field of transport, 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, primarily the EU countries 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 China, according to some experts, was deliberately not 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 $40 billion at its disposal. In the future, the Chinese leadership expects the support of a number of European and Islamic countries in the field of financing the construction of some 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 must pass by land (railway). It will consist of 3 parts (corridors). The northern part of the railway should pass 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 being part of the Chinese project, the Chinese world is not so important for us (enough). 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 route is as follows: China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Iraq-Syria-Turkey-European Union.

The sea part of the route must pass along the coasts 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 of this year, a new railway line 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 ones, however, 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 track with a length of 293 kilometers between Zhetygen and Korgas. This railway has already become part of the Chongqing-Duisburg highway.

Silk Road Summit in China May 14–15, 2017

Leaders of 28 countries are coming to China, including the President of Russia. Beijing hosts the One Belt, One Road international summit. Representatives of 110 states and 20 international organizations will meet at the forum. This is the first time China is gathering such a representative assembly in the economic sphere. Sim, an application is made for international economic leadership.

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

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, the Crimea was previously part of the Silk Road, until Russia gave public signals that it was ready to let China build its port here. And in Europe, not everyone wants to see cheap Chinese goods which can easily crowd out local producers. They talk about 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 relations with the Islamic world.

 

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