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Silk Road appeared as a trade route between China and Europe in the 2nd century BC. e. In the 21st century, the authorities of Russia and China within the framework of the Eurasian economic union decided to resurrect the unique economic experience of antiquity in the form of a trans-Eurasian trade and infrastructure project of the same name under the slogan “One Belt - One Road”. The strategy includes the creation of an extensive infrastructure network (railways, roads, pipelines, ports) stretching from China's western borders through countries Central Asia and Iran to Europe. In the spring of 2015, the Silk Road Company investment fund was created, which will implement the project.

On May 8, 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a joint statement on cooperation between Russia and China within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union and the trans-Eurasian trade and infrastructure project of the Silk Road economic belt. The “New Silk Road” project promoted by China involves not just the revival of the ancient transport route between East and West, but a large-scale transformation of the entire trade and economic model of Eurasia, and primarily Central Asia. According to Vladimir Putin, “we are talking about reaching the future new level partnership, implying a common economic space across the entire Eurasian continent.”

Background – The Great Silk Road

Regular caravan trade between China and Central Asia arose no later than the 2nd century BC. e. By that time, China had united into a single empire and the endless internal confrontation between individual kingdoms had been replaced by a single foreign policy of a huge country. In the north, the first Great Wall of China was built to protect against the nomadic Huns, in the southeast maritime trade developed, and in the west, Chinese diplomats and merchants advanced far to the east, initially in search of allies against the Huns and precious jade from deposits in what is now Xinjiang. Finally, in Central Asia, the Chinese saw Arabian horses for the first time and realized that in exchange for them and other scarce goods it was possible to supply unique goods, primarily silk fabric, which was highly valued not only for its beauty, but also for its ability to resist insects and steam. zits, which was especially important for the waterless spaces of the center of Eurasia.

This is how the Great Silk Road arose, going from China through the Turfan oasis, between Altai and Tibet, through the Pamirs to the Fergana Valley and the Kazakh steppes (northern branch of the route), and through the Taklamakan desert, southern Pamirs, Bactria (Afghanistan), Parthia (Iran) , India and the Middle East, where Chinese goods reached the provinces of the Roman Empire through the Mediterranean Sea, and later to Byzantium, Arab and Western European countries. China traded not only silk, but also porcelain, tea, rice, jewelry and other products in exchange for gold, silver, leather, wool, carpets, exotic fruits and other goods from Central Asia; along this path there was an exchange of technology between East and West - this is how, apparently, gunpowder, paper and other technical achievements of China came to Europe.

Caravan trade along the Great Silk Road had a huge historical meaning. So, in long list possible factors and reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire, one can find such a thing as shortage silver coins, which arose, among other things, because for centuries the Romans exchanged silver for “luxury” goods from the East, including silk coming from China. The Great Silk Road apparently played a huge role in the emergence of the Old Russian state - in the 8th–10th centuries, due to political instability in the south, part of the caravan trade along the northern branch of the route went around the Caspian Sea, through Khazaria and Russia, using the river system of the Russian Plain, which contributed the growth of trading cities in this region, including Kiev.

It should be noted that the organization of caravan trade along the Great Silk Road required not only diplomatic efforts, but also the creation and support of a rather complex infrastructure network, because along the route along thousands of kilometers it was necessary to dig wells, create resting and stopping places (caravanserais), and organize crossings through rivers, etc.

Trade along the Great Silk Road experienced a boom after the creation of the Mongol Empire in the 13th century, which united the space of Eurasia (it was during this period that the famous Italian traveler Marco Polo visited China). But then, during the era of the Great Geographical Discoveries, the bulk of trade between East and West began to pass by sea.

However, land routes continued to play an important role. Thus, from the time of Peter the Great (after the conclusion of the Treaty of Nerchinsk in 1689), it was deployed first through Nerchinsk, and then through the border city of Kyakhta, specially founded for customs purposes (after the conclusion of the Treaty of Kyakhta in 1727). cloth, manufactured goods, furs, and yuft (dressed leather) were exported; from China to Russia - silk, porcelain, precious stones, and mainly tea, which has since become the national drink of not only the Chinese, but also the Russians. Kyakhta trade became an incentive for the accelerated construction of the “Great Tea Road” - the Siberian Highway (built in the 1740s between Moscow and Irkutsk), which became the longest horse-drawn road in the world and anticipated the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the modern network of federal highways of the Russian Federation.

New Silk Roads

Projects for recreating the ancient Silk Road began to make themselves known more and more loudly in the 1990s, which was facilitated by the prevailing political situation at that time, although there were and continue to be significant difficulties for the implementation of such plans. The role of the main negative factor The unstable and tense situation in some Central Asian countries, especially Afghanistan, plays a role here.

As one of the first examples of the real implementation of the idea of ​​the “New Silk Road,” the construction of the transcontinental highway “Western Europe - Western China” began in 2008. This highway, or more precisely, a sequence of highways built into a single system (expressways and simply high-class roads), passes through the territory of China, Kazakhstan and Russia. In China and Kazakhstan, construction is already close to completion. In Russia, the route will include the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway currently under construction and the existing Moscow-Kazan highway, as well as sections of new highways recently built and under construction in Tatarstan and Bashkortostan. In Tatarstan, the road also passes along the longest bridge crossing in the Russian Federation - the bridge over the Kama River near the village of Sorochi Gory. The first stage of the bridge complex with a total length of 13,967 m was commissioned in 2002, the construction of the second stage (parallel bridge crossing) as of 2015 is nearing completion.

At the beginning of January 2008, in Beijing, representatives of Russia, China, Mongolia, Belarus, Poland and Germany signed an agreement on regular transport of goods by railways of these countries with coordination of all issues of the work of customs and border services. Less than a month later, train traffic began through Russian territory in accordance with the new agreement - 7 thousand km and 6 days of travel pass through Russian open spaces. In total, the journey from Beijing to Hamburg takes 9,992 thousand km and 15 days, which is at least twice as fast as by sea through the Suez Canal. In addition, the overland route significantly reduces the cost of insuring transport risks. This project became another one that received the name “Silk Road” in the media.

In 2009, a trial branch of the Turkmenistan - China gas pipeline was launched, also passing through the territory of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. In its full form, the project is called the “Silk Road” and involves building gas transportation infrastructure in the space between China and Iran, that is, almost along the entire length of the ancient Silk Road.

Thus, by the early to mid-2010s, certain practical experience in implementing large-scale transport and infrastructure projects in Central Asia had been accumulated. Taking into account this experience, as well as against the backdrop of ever-increasing foreign economic interests and resource needs, the PRC leadership decided to move from individual projects (albeit very large ones) to a large-scale Eurasian strategy.

One belt - one way

In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward the concept of the “New Silk Road”, expressed in the name (slogan) of the “One Belt - One Road” project. The strategy includes the projects “Silk Road Economic Belt” and “Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century”. The idea is global in nature and involves the creation of an extensive infrastructure network stretching from the western borders of China through the countries of Central Asia and Iran to Europe.

The goal of the project is the construction of transport infrastructure (railways, roads, pipelines, ports), which should lead to a significant increase in intra-Eurasian trade, as well as to the intensification of economic development of the vast internal territories of Eurasia, as well as the countries of South and South-East Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where the “New Silk Road” will also have to reach (at least in its marine version). So far, work on the project is of a preparatory nature and is carried out in political, informational and organizational aspects.

In the spring of 2015, the Silk Road Company investment fund was created, which will implement the project; so far, an extremely small amount of $40 billion by Chinese standards has been allocated. It is expected not only that this amount will be multiplied, but also that Islamic and European countries will participate in financing the project. Even earlier - in October 2014 - the Chinese created the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) - by May 2015, almost 60 countries (not only the majority Asian countries, but also all key European countries). Thus, many dozens of states are expected to participate in the implementation of the project.

Merging projects

On April 2, 2015, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi proposed building a Chinese-Mongolian-Russian economic corridor that would combine the concepts of transport megaprojects existing in the three countries. According to Wang Yi, “building an economic corridor means combining the Chinese idea of ​​​​building the Silk Road economic belt “one belt - one road”, the Mongolian idea of ​​the “steppe road” and the idea of ​​​​creating a trans-Eurasian corridor promoted by Russia.”

In the land part of the “New Silk Road” it is planned to build three railway corridors, the northern of which will pass through the territory of Russia, and the central and southern ones - through the territory of Central and Central Asia (including through Kazakhstan, which is a member of the Eurasian Economic Union together with Russia) . Subsequently, the railway corridors will be supplemented by road corridors.

The length of the main direction of the “New Silk Road” through Central Asia is about 6,500 km, of which 4,000 will pass through Chinese territory - from the Pacific coast to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Then the proposed route will go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Turkmenistan, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey, and from there to Europe - through Bulgaria, Romania and the Czech Republic to Germany; branches from the main route will also allow reaching many other neighboring countries.

The sea route, like the land route, will follow an ancient trade route: from Guangzhou in China along the coasts of Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia, past to the Red Sea (with branches to the Persian Gulf and Africa), through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean. Before the start of the Ukrainian crisis, the Chinese considered Crimea as a separate entry point into Europe - it was planned to build a deep-sea port in the western part of the peninsula.

In addition, Russia and China are discussing another route - the Arctic: we are talking about the possible inclusion of the project for the development of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in the New Silk Road strategy.

China's interests

China's interests in connection with the New Silk Road strategy are extremely diverse, which is not surprising given the scale of the project.

In a purely transport dimension, the construction of new transport corridors should reduce the delivery time of goods from China to Europe from the current 45–60 days by sea to 10–13 days by land. Of course, such a reduction in transportation times can lead to significant optimization and reduction in cost of many Chinese goods, which will allow China to strengthen its position in European and Asian markets, as well as conquer new markets in Africa and the Middle East.

Conquering new markets is extremely important for China. Many experts note a slight slowdown in the growth rate of the Chinese economy in last years and they rightly note that although there are still hundreds of millions of peasants in China who are not involved in the modern economic and technological way of life, nevertheless, China’s human resources are not endless, and in order to continue growth and development, it is necessary to find more and more large-scale use of Chinese goods, technologies and investments abroad.

Here we can turn to the example of the most important industry for modern China - railway construction. By 2014, China had built about 16 thousand km of high-speed railways (60% of the entire global high-speed railway network), and by the end of the decade the total length of the network should reach 30 thousand km. The pace of construction of high-speed tracks in China is amazing; Huge resources have been invested in this industry, and the Chinese leadership is well aware that at this rate, sooner or later (and most likely quite early by historical standards), the high-speed network in China will reach the limit of “saturation” and economic profitability, even despite the colossal size of the population and territories.

Therefore, China is extremely interested in the exit of its railway and construction companies far beyond the borders of the PRC - this will provide these industries with work for many decades to come. To achieve this, the Chinese are making significant diplomatic and organizational efforts. Thus, in October 2014, the largest Chinese manufacturers of railway equipment CNR and CSR merged, which united to jointly enter the world market and compete with foreign companies, including Siemens and Bombardier. The Chinese are willing to build infrastructure even in underdeveloped and unstable African countries - for example, they are planning to build a railway in East Africa (through Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan), and at the end of 2014, a contract worth $12 billion was signed to build a railway along the coast of Nigeria.

Especially in neighboring countries and in building, if possible, a railway network that will be integrated with the intra-Chinese one. In May 2015, it became known that China is ready to invest up to 300 billion rubles in the construction of a high-speed railway (HSR) Moscow - Kazan (the first full-fledged dedicated HSR in the Russian Federation with a length of 770 km should reduce travel time between Moscow and Kazan from 11.5 to 3 ,5 o'clock). The road is expected to be built using Chinese technology and with loans from Chinese banks, although Russian companies should become the main suppliers of materials and rolling stock.

Interests of Russia

In the Russian expert community, two main directions of discourse regarding the New Silk Road project are most noticeable.

On the one hand, Russia is very interested in integrating into trans-Eurasian transport corridors - this will allow the development of the territories of the Asian part of the country, dramatically increase the return on investment in transport infrastructure, and make many regions much more attractive for the development of production and residence in them. Russia has long dreamed of using its geographical position between the West and the East in order to become a major transit country playing the role of a “Eurasian bridge”.

On the other hand, experts point out that the main routes of the New Silk Road project should pass south of Russia, and their passage through the territory of the countries of Central Asia, formerly part of the USSR, will lead to strengthening economic ties between these countries and China, and therefore , and to increasing their political dependence on China, which threatens to weaken Russia’s role in this region. However, such statements were made mainly before China announced that it was going to develop a route through Mongolia and Russia, among others.

One way or another, against the backdrop of difficulties in relations with the West, Russia is currently particularly interested in strengthening and expanding its cooperation with China. Moreover, without such cooperation, full-fledged economic development of the regions of Siberia and Far East who need markets to sell their products and strengthen cross-border connections to develop the service sector and the economy as a whole.

Common interests

Both Russia and China are extremely interested in political stability and economic development of the entire Central Asian and Middle Eastern region, including countries such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, since religious fundamentalism, drug trafficking, and the threat of uncontrolled flows of migrants in the event of major conflicts are completely excluded in the interests of both countries. The best counter to all this could be the accelerated economic development of Central Asia and the Middle East, leading to rising living standards and strengthening political stability, and the New Silk Road project should play a key role here in establishing peace and economic prosperity in Eurasia. Infrastructure projects implemented within the framework of the New Silk Road should become a serious incentive for both the development and technological modernization of the Russian construction industry and the Russian economy as a whole and increasing its balance between West and East.

In September, maintenance of the new railway will begin from Baku (Alyat port) through Tbilisi to the Turkish city of Kars. The length of the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars (BTK) highway was 826 km. Construction of this line began back in 2008. And they wanted to finish it in three years, but they are only finishing it now. In July of this year, the start of a test drive of the railway was finally officially announced, reports the Turkish publication Daily Sabah.

BTK is expected to begin full operation at the end of 2017 or early 2018. And it should become an integral part of the “New Silk Road” - the Chinese mega-project “One Belt - One Road”, designed to connect China with a high-speed and safe trade corridor with Europe.

In the first years of operation, the highway is expected to transport 1 million passengers and 6.5 million tons of cargo; at the second stage, the volume of cargo transportation can reach 17-20 million tons and up to 2 million passengers per year.

Georgia: they don’t skimp on ambitions

The idea of ​​building the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway was discussed back in the 90s of the last century, after the collapse of the USSR. Implementation began only in November 2007 from the territory of Georgia. The project was launched at a ceremony with the participation of the presidents of the three participating countries.

The then President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, immediately characterized the project as a “great geopolitical revolution” and linked it with China.

Saakashvili said that “all Chinese cargo that arrives today in Europe through Russian territory will go along this road.” At the initial stage, it was planned to transport no more than 4-5 million tons along this road. This called into question the profitability of the entire project. But Saakashvili assured his partners that he would help Kazakhstan out. Allegedly, Astana decided to redirect 10 million tons of cargo going to Europe through Russia and Belarus to this section.

The Georgian part of the highway is the road from Tiflis to Kars, which was built by order of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II. For the new construction of a railway here, Georgia took a loan from Azerbaijan. The volume of the credit line is $775 million. The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan issued the first tranche in the amount of $200 million for 20 years to Georgians at a symbolic 1% per annum.

The second tranche in 2011 of $575 million already cost 5%, and the repayment period was extended over 25 years. In pre-crisis times, less expensive projects were discussed in Georgia, three times cheaper, but Saakashvili decided not to skimp on his ambitions.

Azerbaijan dreams of becoming Dubai

The most interesting thing is that even after the loan is repaid, Georgia will not have the right to establish a tariff policy on its part of the BTK route. Azerbaijan intends to set exclusive tariffs for the transportation of goods via the BTK, with the unconditional support of Turkey.

Like neighboring Georgia, Azerbaijan is trying to use its geographic location to extract transit rents. But Baku also had to spend money to make the BTK transport corridor effective and attract the attention of the global beneficiary - China. In Azerbaijan, in the same 2007, they decided to expand the bottleneck of the future trade route - the seaport on the Caspian Sea.

The existing port in the center of Baku was not suitable for such a role and was moved 65 km from the capital, to the village of Alyat. Now here on an area of ​​20 square meters. km, a port and a terminal for road and rail transport are being built for container transportation. Alyat also became a free trade zone. The new Baku port will be the largest logistics center connecting China with Europe, East with West.

The Alyat Free Port is being created following the model of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) in Dubai. There it is not just a transport hub, but an entire conglomeration with industrial enterprises, banks, and the residential sector. The first part of the Alyat project is designed to transport 10 million tons of cargo and 50 thousand TEU (20-foot equivalent container capacity). The second part of the project, starting in 2017, will increase the port’s capacity to 17 million tons of cargo and 150 thousand TEU.

The master plan for the Alyat port was developed by the Dutch Royal HaskoningDHV, taking into account the experience of the largest European ports - Rotterdam and Hamburg. The project consultant is DP World, which participated in the development of the Khorgos special economic zone in Kazakhstan. Khorgos is also considered part of the New Silk Road project.

Transit rent beckons

The completion of the highway to Turkish Kars means that the route from China to Europe has now become more convenient, because there is no need to transship goods across the Black Sea. A railway connection has already been established from Kars to the border with Europe (via Greece and Bulgaria).

Almost every country whose geographical location allows it dreams of making money on the transit of goods from China to Europe. Not only Azerbaijan or Turkey, not only Russia or Kazakhstan, Mongolia, but also Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine would like to take over the “Silk Road”. Last year, Ukrainian Railways announced the launch of trains to China, bypassing Russia.

Ukrainian railway workers promised to deliver cargo to the border with the EU in 11 days. But in the end it took 15 and a half days for delivery.

China will try to be friends with all countries that may be geographically related to the New Silk Road project, promising to fill the routes with goods, notes InfraNews CEO Alexey Bezborodov.

So far, Russia has outperformed Azerbaijan and Turkey due to the relative cheapness of transportation.

In addition, their cost is off the charts. It's not profitable. “Today, transporting one container only by sea, on one section - through the Caspian Sea - costs $1,200. For this money you can transport a container from Vladivostok to Moscow,” says Bezborodov.

This is not the UN Security Council

Nevertheless, experts do not rule out that Russia may drop out of the New Silk Road project in the next few years. China is trying to test different ways of transporting goods to Europe and diversify them. Each of them has advantages and disadvantages. Most of the cargo to the EU goes by sea. Overland transport of goods from China accounts for only 5-6% of its cargo. The bulk of them goes along the Russian Trans-Siberian Railway (1.5 million tons) at a cost of $6-7 thousand per container.

“But the problem rests on the congestion of the Trans-Siberian Railway with internal Russian cargo and the low capacity of the line. It is difficult to withstand large-scale additional transit from China,” says Mark Goikhman, leading analyst at TeleTrade Group.

The second significant problem for increasing transit through Russia and Kazakhstan to Europe is the speed of movement of freight trains. average speed along the Trans-Siberian Railway - approximately 12 km/h, there are many “narrow sections” where traffic is slowed down, recalls Goikhman. According to Bezborodov, the speed of container deliveries within China and for export is 40 km/h.

China understands this, but is in no hurry to invest in Russia’s transport infrastructure, experts say.

The Chinese like to say that China and the United States have cool political relations, but hot economic ties. All the largest US trading companies and banks have long been registered in China. With Russia it's the other way around. Ideologically, the two countries are close to each other, which is repeatedly proven, for example, by the results of voting on the UN Security Council agenda. But economic integration is developing with difficulty.

This is not a camel road

“One of the main problems that has happened to Russia in recent years is that it has become a difficult to predict country, with an unpredictable foreign policy,” says Alexei Makarkin, first vice president of the Center for Political Technologies.

It is not surprising that many of Russia’s partners, even seemingly politically loyal ones, strive to look at alternative options just in case, the expert adds. China has now used at least six options for delivering goods to the EU.

The Chinese themselves, when asked what the problem is, why the currently revived “Silk Road” from China to Europe cannot run through neighboring Russian territory, answer philosophically and evasively. “The Silk Road is not a line on a map, not the delivery of goods from point A to point B. “The Silk Road” is not a road with camels,” said the Plenipotentiary Minister of the Chinese Embassy in Russia, a participant, in an interview with Gazeta.Ru Eastern Economic Forum Zhang Di. This is the path to growth and excellence. Anyone has the right to join this path. And Russia is involved in it, the Chinese official reassured.

The route should become fully operational after the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway (Turkey) is put into operation. In mid-October, the head of Azerbaijan Railways CJSC, Javid Gurbanov, called the delivery date November 2016. For now, cargo containers from China delivered to the Kazakh port of Aktau and then on to Baku will proceed from there to the ports of Georgia, and then be transported by container ships to Turkey.

The trial launch of the route took place back in February 2015, Garibashvili spoke at the Tbilisi forum of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” in September. In July, the Nomadexpress test container train traveled along the route Shihezi (China) - Dostyk (Kazakhstan) - Aktau - Alyat (Azerbaijan), covering 3.5 thousand km through Kazakhstan and the Caspian Sea in five days. It delivered flat cars designed to transport 82 containers weighing 20 tons each.

“The Trans-Asian-Caucasian train can reduce travel time by five times compared to sea transportation. If, for example, sea transport from China requires 40-45 days, then along the new railway route cargo will arrive from China to Georgia within nine days,” he indicated in his report “The Role of Transport and Transit Corridors in Ensuring International Cooperation for sustainable development" (*.pdf) in September this year by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. In the document, he referred to data provided, among other things, by the Georgian government.

In November of this year, cooperation went further: in Istanbul, representatives of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, China and Turkey established a joint consortium to transport goods from China to Europe, bypassing Russia. The enterprise included Mishgeng Logistics (China), the Kazakh subsidiary of KTZ Express (the Kazakhstan Temir Zholy railway company), the Azerbaijan Caspian Shipping Company, the Azerbaijani Karvan Logistics and Trans Caucasus Terminals (a subsidiary of the Georgian Railway). Türkiye is represented in the consortium as an associate member. The train that arrived in Tbilisi from China on Sunday was the first test train; the railway operator was a consortium.

As Igbal Huseynov, deputy head of Azerbaijan Railways, suggests, up to 54 million tons of cargo per year can pass along the trans-Caspian route. By 2020, up to 300-400 thousand containers could be delivered to Turkey and Europe this way, he said at the beginning of December at a conference in Odessa. From 2016, the consortium expects to begin transporting goods through Ukraine to Northern and Eastern Europe - the governor of the Odessa region, Mikheil Saakashvili, insists on using the capacity of the Odessa port.

Silk nets

The Trans-Caspian route is not the only promising railway route from China to Europe in development. Since 2011, communication has been established between Chinese Chongqing and German Duisburg: the total length of the route is 11.2 thousand km, and before reaching Germany, the Chinese train passes through the territory of Kazakhstan, Russia and Poland. Since the launch of communication in this direction, China has transported goods worth a total of $2.5 billion along it. A total of 11 Chinese cities, the largest industrial hubs, have freight rail connections with Europe.

The impetus for the development of infrastructure projects was given by the ambitious concept of the “Silk Road Economic Belt”, formulated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September 2013 during his tour of the countries of Central Asia.

This concept involves the development of economic cooperation on the continent through the construction of transport infrastructure. Increasing its efficiency, coupled with the elimination of trade barriers, should lead to an increase in the volume of mutual trade in the region, as well as increase the role of national currencies, primarily the Chinese yuan, in mutual economic transactions. In addition, the implementation of infrastructure projects should give impetus to the development of China's sparsely populated and economically lagging inland provinces, from Inner Mongolia to the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

To develop infrastructure projects, at the initiative of China, a $40 billion Silk Road Fund was established, co-founded by the Central Bank of China, other state banks and state corporations.

Beijing is placing its main bet on railway communication - this industry has been chosen as the main export industry. “It is expected that railways will be the locomotive for increasing the export of Chinese high-tech equipment,” wrote (*.pdf) Deputy Director of IMEMO RAS Vasily Mikheev, Sector Head of the same institute Sergei Lukonin and Korean researcher Jae Sung Hong.

Following the Chinese railway workers, equipment and software manufacturers, providers of engineering and other services, as well as banks, insurance and other companies should come to the regions, experts describe the PRC’s expansion strategy.

“The Silk Road strategy is a strategy to stimulate Chinese exports,” Jonathan Holslag, a professor at the Free University of Brussels, explained to RBC. “Most of the railways and infrastructure projects built with Chinese assistance are part of a trade pattern in which China runs a trade surplus and other countries run trade deficits.” Beijing will work on this strategy for the next 10-15 years.

In addition, according to Mikheev and his colleagues, the tasks of the Silk Road also include ensuring China’s energy security - the country is highly dependent on energy supplies. Thus, in 2013, according to estimates of the Ministry of Land and natural resources China, China's dependence on oil supplies was 57%, and by 2020 this figure could rise to 66% with the prospect of further increase.

At the end of 2013, according to official data, China imported 280 million tons of oil. Of these, 10.17 million tons (86 million barrels) were in Kazakhstan. The raw materials were supplied through a pipeline connecting Central Kazakhstan and North-West China, its length is 745 km. In 2013, Turkmenistan provided 52% of China's gas needs. In 2014, China bought up to 100 billion cubic meters. m of gas from the Central Asian states. In the spring of 2014, it became known that the Chinese oil and gas company CNPC intends to invest $4 billion in an industrial zone in the south of Turkmenistan.

The Russian government this week approved an intergovernmental agreement with China on the purchase of a 9.9% stake in Yamal LNG from NOVATEK, said the head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemyev. The buyer was the Silk Road Fund.

Together with Gazprom

In addition, China cooperates with the Russian Gazprom. In May, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, and the vice-president of the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), Wang Dongjin, signed an agreement on the basic conditions for gas supplies from Russia to China via the western route.

The framework agreement on supplies via the western route was signed in November 2014 and provides for the annual supply of 30 billion cubic meters to China. m of gas from the fields of Western Siberia via the Altai gas pipeline.

Place of Russia

The Silk Road and the concept promoted by Russia Eurasian integration on the basis of the Eurasian Economic Union, despite all the mutual assurances from Beijing and Moscow, can hardly be considered complementary. At the same time, the Chinese leadership constantly emphasizes that the project implies exclusively economic cooperation and does not aim at any political integration.

Economically, the interests of the two projects are already colliding. Thus, Beijing is concerned about the Customs Union created on the initiative of Moscow in the CIS space (the Customs Union, in addition to Russia, it includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan). The formation of uniform tariffs for the import of Chinese products into these countries may negatively affect the prospects for growth in the volume of mutual trade between Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with China. As experts from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development calculated back in 2012, an increase in tariffs by 2% could lead to a reduction in Chinese imports to the CU countries by 2-3%.

As IMEMO notes, the CU is gradually tightening its trade regime with China. In recent years, the Eurasian Economic Commission has repeatedly launched investigations against Chinese manufacturers, imposing anti-dumping duties on them. Only in 2015, the EEC introduced anti-dumping duties, among other things, on Chinese seamless steel pipes (used for drilling and operating oil and gas wells), tires for trucks, flat cold-rolled stainless steel products, crawler bulldozers and citric acid.

At the same time, Russia has been losing economic competition to China in Central Asia for several years now. The volume of bilateral trade between China and the countries of Central Asia in 2013 amounted to $50.3 billion, in 2014 against the backdrop of an economic slowdown - $46 billion. At the same time, last year Beijing approved the allocation of an investment package of $30 billion to Astana, Tashkent received a $15 billion deal , the total amount of economic assistance to Kyrgyzstan amounted to $3 billion.

The volume of Russian investments in the region in 2013-2014 amounted to only $15 billion, and the volume of trade turnover, according to Rosstat and the Federal Customs Service, was $30.5 billion in 2013 and $27.8 billion in 2014.

IMEMO experts believe that one of the challenges of the Chinese project is the final transformation of Russia into “player No. 2” in this region. “For the first time, Russia finds itself in the role of a follower player, that is, China will more firmly defend its economic interests,” they argue.

Even the very development of the region’s railway network in the forms in which Beijing sees it can significantly affect the prospects for the inclusion of the Far Eastern regions of Russia in economic cooperation with Europe. “In the event of the likely passage of the main railway line of the Silk Road through Russian territory through Orenburg or Chelyabinsk, the rest of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the BAM will remain unused. Kazakhstan will receive the majority of transit payments,” IMEMO experts say.

One-man theater

But it is too early to talk about transport and infrastructure breakthroughs in China. In 2014, China's bilateral trade volume with the European Union, according to the European Commission, amounted to €466 billion ($619 billion at the average annual rate). Of this, rail transportation ordered by cargo owners, according to Chinese customs authorities, accounted for only $4.9 billion, indicated in November The South China Morning Post.

Due to many factors, rail communication along this route is unprofitable and inferior to sea transportation, says RBC Stapran. As The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) notes, Railway will never replace sea transportation. A train can carry at most several hundred containers, while container ships can carry a load of 18 thousand containers.

The maximum cargo weight of a typical 40-foot container is 9.6 tons. The cost of transporting such a container by rail is $8 thousand. Transporting the same container by sea would cost about $3 thousand, and delivering an equivalent cargo by air would cost $37 thousand, calculated specialized publication JOC.com.

“The tradeoff between price and speed makes rail shipments viable for high-value goods China exports to Europe, such as laptops, or imports from there, such as car components,” the WSJ noted. In the case of the Chongqing-Duisburg route, China, for example, supplies components for Hewlett Packard products.

Moreover, Stapran argues, if we take the Silk Wind project, then at present this direction is not equipped with the appropriate infrastructure, for example, unloading terminals. “A long road is only a hundredth part of what is needed for efficient and profitable transportation of goods. For now, this can only be considered as a pilot project,” the expert tells RBC.

SCMP concludes that the Silk Road has had a "slow start" so far. Logistics companies have faced difficulties in European cities filling empty containers with goods exported from EU countries. According to China Railways, in the first half of 2015, 200 trains were sent from China to Europe, and only 50 arrived back with cargo.

“Only a few containers are returned within a month, we can’t even fill the train,” the publication quotes Gong Qinghua, sales director of one of the freight carriers operating on the Yiwu (Zheqiang Province) - Madrid route. Eight full trains a month depart from this industrial city specializing in the production of souvenirs towards Spain. There is simply no demand for European products in Yiwu, says Gong.

Another factor is the structure of European imports to China: while it is easy to deliver consumer goods by rail to the EU, deliveries of European heavy engineering products by rail cannot be carried out in the opposite direction. According to the European Commission (*.pdf), in the structure of Chinese exports to the EU in 2014, 12.3% were textile goods (second position after engineering products - 46.6%), and another 9.2% were “various finished products " The European Union exported primarily machinery and equipment (31.8%), and secondarily transport equipment (26.3%). The wariness of Europeans towards Chinese logistics companies also plays a role, SCMP cites the opinion of the head of the consulting company Silk Route Rail, Darryl Hadaway.

According to Li Gang, a fellow at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy social sciences, for at least the next three to four years, rail transport between China and Europe will not be commercially profitable. Until now, this mega-project has been a “one-man show” for Beijing, but the Silk Road is a long-term strategy for China, says Li Gang. According to him, the potential of China's railway connection with Europe is enormous, since relations between China and the EU are "entering a golden era."

With the participation of Alexander Ratnikov

The past two decades of rapid economic growth in China have transformed it into a superpower. With the coming to power of a new leadership led by Xi Jinping, the PRC has stopped hiding its foreign policy ambitions. The project to create the New Silk Road is a logical continuation of China's policy in recent years. The first steps to realize the dream have already been taken: financial resources have been allocated and agreements have been developed with key countries. The plan also has several opponents from among the major world powers. By implementing the project, China will solve not only a number of internal problems, but will also have a global impact on the economic picture of the world. How New Silk Road?

Grand plan

Not long ago, Foreign Minister Wang Yi defined the concept for foreign policy China's "One Belt - One Dream", according to which it is planned to build a New Silk Road from Asia to Europe. At the beginning of 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping presented a plan to create the Silk Road. As part of the project, it is planned to form a giant single economic belt consisting of infrastructure facilities in many countries. The New Silk Road will pass through Central Asia, Russia, Belarus, and Europe. The sea route will follow Persian Gulf, Mediterranean Sea and the Indian Ocean. An option with routes through African countries is being considered.

The PRC is going to invest more than $40 billion in the project from a special fund. $50 billion has already been allocated by the Asian Bank. The funds will be used for the construction of railways, ports and other facilities, and for the development of relations between the countries participating in the project. The Wantchinatimes resource estimated the total investments of the PRC at $22 trillion.

Attempts to revive the Silk Road have already been made by Europe and the United States. China was the last to address this idea, but has done much more to implement it. Thanks to impressive financial capabilities and “soft economic aggression,” it will be possible to create a safe transit that will be used by many states. Today, China is actively discussing infrastructure construction projects with participating countries. A more specific scheme for the new Silk Road and the results of lengthy negotiations will become known in late March at the Boao Forum (South Chinese province of Hainan).

Silk Road concept

Today, China supplies machine tools, equipment, electrical and high-tech products to the world market. In terms of length (16 thousand km), the country ranks first in the world. The ancient Silk Road was exclusively a Chinese transport corridor. Today, the PRC announces the creation of an international economic platform.

The initiative to unite the Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is being carried out within the framework of the One Belt, One Road program. The concept of the New Silk Road is to implement the plan through five interrelated elements:

• unified infrastructure;
• political coherence;
• monetary and financial flows;
• trade relations;
• humanitarian communication.

On this basis, full-scale cooperation is promoted, strengthening mutual trust between countries, developing economic integration and cultural tolerance. The implementation of the project as a whole was planned along three routes:

• "China - Central Asia - Russia - Europe."
• "China - Central and Western Asia".
• "China - Southeast Asia - South Asia".

New Silk Road. Route

The scale of the project is impressive not only in terms of investment, but also in terms of geography. The entire “path” is divided into two routes (by land and by sea). The land route begins in Xi'an (Shaanxi province), passing through the whole of China, follows to the city of Urumqi, crosses such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Turkey. Then it goes through the Bosphorus Strait to Eastern Europe, to Russia. The New Silk Road, the route of which will pass through the territory of several European countries, will proceed from Rotterdam to Italy.

An equally grandiose sea route begins in the city of Quanzhou (Fuzzian Province), follows through large southern Chinese cities, through the Strait of Malacca, ending in Kuala Lumpur. Crossing the Indian Ocean, it stops in Colombo (Sri Lanka), in the Maldives, and reaches Nairobi (Kenya). Next, the route passes along the Red Sea through Djibouti, through the Suez Canal to Athens (Greece), to Venice (Italy) and connects with the land Silk Road.

Economic tasks of the “path”

As a major exporter, China influences the global economy in many ways. According to forecasts, the Silk Road is expected to generate $21 trillion in trade turnover per year, which could increase China's share of global GDP to 50%.

It is assumed that the New Silk Road, the construction of which is already in full swing, will redirect the flow of exports of goods and capital to regions that until recently remained outside of international trade. IN last decades The PRC actively cooperates with Asian countries. Investments allocated by Chinese state-owned companies are for many developing countries perhaps the only opportunity to maintain independence among the great powers.

From an economic point of view, the benefit of the project for China lies in the reduction of logistics costs. For countries participating in the Silk Road - in attracting additional funds. An example of such cooperation based on Chinese investments is the iHavan project on Maldives(in the future this will be one of the important points on the map of the maritime Silk Road).

Regional tasks

China's presence in Central Asia and Africa is not purely economic in nature. At the regional level, the priority task for the PRC remains the political and economic stability of the border regions: East, Central and Southeast Asia. The main barrier to the spread of the Chinese economic phenomenon was the “Chinese threat” factor. It is planned to reduce the threat to “no” using the strategy of “soft power” and strengthening the cultural influence of the PRC. The number of students from the Asian region studying at Chinese universities reflects the degree of penetration

China's energy security largely depends on its control over the sea and land Silk Road. As the world's largest importer of energy resources, China is 100% dependent on sea supplies. The threat of an “oil embargo” constantly hangs over the country. The US used this tactic against Japan before the war.

The New Silk Road will unite many countries, including opponents of the United States (Russia, Pakistan, Iran). The states participating in the path can become a significant political force. An important task associated with the creation of the Silk Road is the protection of Chinese investments. Through trading points controlled by the PRC, it is possible to implement not only commercial, but also anti-terrorist goals. From time to time, information appears in the media about the creation of a Chinese network of “String of Pearls” military bases in the Indian Ocean.

The impact of the project on the internal politics of the PRC

Large international projects are also becoming a priority in China’s domestic politics. The New Silk Road will help resolve several internal problems.

1. The Pro-China Economic Belt is a profitable investment project with high returns and long-term benefits.
2. Passing through Western China, the belt will help solve the problems of uneven development of the country, cultural and economic integration of the western regions.
3. The construction of infrastructure facilities is a source of new jobs for state-owned companies in China, which have solid human resources.

Central Asia and Russia

The territories of Russia and Central Asia, which unite the West and the East, are significant transit arteries for China. Today, China is the world's factory. They had been considering the idea of ​​using Central Asia for economic purposes since the collapse of Soviet Union. At the same time, systematic work began in this direction: the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, raising the issue of economic cooperation. It was important not only to level out the internal economic situation, but also to prepare a corridor to Europe through Central Asia and Russia.

It is not so important where the New Silk Road will take place: in any case, it will become a large-scale “shake-up” of the infrastructure of Central Asia and will significantly expand cargo flows from China. The success of the tactics of unification and stability, the only possible one on the Silk Road, has been proven historically. Revolutions and wars between nations led to its decline, and navigation to its lack of demand. Subsequent attempts to resume the route without unification at the regional level came to nothing.

Central Asia has always been a sphere of interest for Russia. The rapprochement between China and the Russian Federation is quite complex issue. It is not yet clear how the Silk Road will affect the Customs Union and the SCO. Much depends on the position of Kazakhstan, the regional center

Russia's role in the project

On the ancient Silk Road, China was the only exporter. The modern path differs from its predecessor precisely in the desire for integration. At the negotiations in Moscow, China for the first time proposed to Russia to use the infrastructure of the economic corridor for trade purposes. Russia will apparently gain access to ports on the New Silk Road and take part in the transit of goods. Of course, in this way the PRC solves one of the important tasks- give impetus to the development and inclusion of Western territories in the international economy.

Russia on the New Silk Road is so far only an accomplice, a supplier of raw materials, and a transit country. Development along the “path” requires a holistic strategy. Government and corporate plans of individual companies are not enough for this; a single one is required. Thanks to China, we have formed a positive image of this project, but there are not many really positive aspects for Russia.

After the collapse of the USSR, we left Central Asia and solved internal problems. China, for the purpose of integration, created Shanghai organization cooperation. Small states were afraid of the PRC, so security was the order of the day. The PRC raised economic issues related to free trade and opening borders. The SCO would have been a monopolist in the region if not for the formation of the Eurasian Economic Union, which showed that Russia has the will and strategic plans for Central Asia. Today, the SCO and the EAEU are the only projects in Central Asia, and the second has more prospects for development, so China is negotiating.

Xi Jinping voiced several proposals for uniting the future economic belt and the EAEU. The idea was supported by V. Putin. The President expressed the opinion that both projects together will become a powerful impetus for economic activity in Eurasia. The projects will be united on the basis of the SCO, which also puts China in the position of leader.

Prospects for the project in Russia

The New Silk Road project will help increase trade turnover and develop Russia’s own land and sea transport network. To do this, it is necessary to create an associated infrastructure. Today the Russian government is saving the budget, including cutting funds allocated for construction.

The connection of Russia to the route as a whole depends on the degree of development of the domestic railway infrastructure. It was planned that the New Silk Road through Russia would follow the Middle Road, Southern Urals and northern regional territories, where construction of the Northern Latitudinal Railway is underway. The possibility of extending the highway through the Polunochnoe - Obskaya line to Kazakhstan and China is being considered. The Northern Urals could be integrated into the “path” by sea or land, but only by fulfilling the conditions for modernizing the railway network.

Sokolov raised the issue of modernizing the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railway, which would make it possible to create a high-speed railway line "Moscow - Beijing", but no money is expected. In 2015, according to the plan, funding for the BAM and Trans-Siberian Railways should have amounted to at least 21 billion rubles, but in fact 16 billion were allocated.

One of the options for including Russia in the New Silk Road was rejected along with the termination of the project to build a Crimean port. Crimea could become a strategic trading base and a new entry point for the trade route to Europe. In any case, the Silk Road by land will go through one of the European countries, where it is easy to provoke a change of power and block transit. For example, the South Stream stop in Bulgaria. The presence of a trading base in Crimea will allow redirecting the movement of goods through any of the countries.

New Silk Road bypassing Russia

Ukraine has announced its intention to take part in the Silk Road project as an intermediate link for cargo flows from China to Europe. According to Mikheil Saakashvili, it is more profitable to direct trade flows to the seaport of Ilyichevsk, since logistics through it will take no more than 9 days, and through Russia - 30 days. Saakashvili emphasized that work is already underway on the construction of roads in the EU, and a large bridge is being built across the Dniester estuary.

China has already made significant progress in implementing the basic version of the route: Kazakhstan - Azerbaijan - Georgia - Turkey. The Nomadexpress test container train left China, bypassing Russian territory, traveling 3,500 km in five days - through Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea to Kishly station (not far from Baku). The second route of the New Silk Road will pass through Iran, the third (through Russia to Moscow and St. Petersburg) is still being discussed. The last route is more profitable: it is shorter than the other two. In addition, Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan are members of the EAEU. The issue of Russian participation in the project took a long time to resolve; a declaration of consent was signed in May 2015.

The PRC considers the option of an “independence” to be quite acceptable. Chinese Ambassador announced that Chinese banks are ready to invest $20 billion in the infrastructure of Ukraine. Does this mean that a New Silk Road will appear, bypassing the territory of the Russian Federation? Wait and see. It is quite obvious that China is considering several route options at once, as in ancient times.

The direction “Kazakhstan - Russia - Belarus” is the most profitable for China, but Russia has not joined the concept of the “New Silk Road” and defends its own interests related to the EAEU. Ukraine is indeed convenient for organizing transportation, but is not suitable for large investments due to its instability. The PRC's play with the Square strengthens the Chinese position in negotiations with the Russian Federation. Of course, the route “Kazan - Moscow - St. Petersburg...” on the Silk Road will still be discussed.

Dina Bogdashova

China has launched a major economic project: the government has decided to create a new Silk Road - an economic corridor that will connect continents with each other through a chain of infrastructure projects. This project could change the economic map of the world and is perceived by many as the first “bell” about the beginning of the battle between East and West for supremacy in Asia, observers say.

In September 2013, Chinese leader Xi Jinping visited the capital of Kazakhstan. In Astana, he agreed on China's purchase of a stake in Kashagan, one of the largest oil fields in the world. It was then that the Chinese leader voiced the idea of ​​the “One Belt, One Road” project - this is a land and sea version of the new Great Silk Road.

The New Silk Road is not just some highway or railway. This is a rather daring idea in its scope. When its construction is completed, it will connect Asia, Europe, Africa and even Latin America. A chain of infrastructure projects will create the world's largest economic corridor. The project will cover 4.4 billion people, and the volumes industrial production within its borders will amount to $21 trillion.

According to the China Development Bank, about $900 billion will be invested in the One Belt, One Road project, and investment plans cover 60 countries. Attractive instruments have been created to promote the project, the main one being the $40 billion Silk Road Development Fund with the possibility of additional capitalization.

China is considering the development of six key corridors: China - Mongolia - Russia; New Eurasian Bridge; China - Central and Western Asia; China - Indochina Peninsula; China - Pakistan; Bangladesh - China - India - Myanmar.

On land, a high-speed rail network is planned, starting in Yunnan province and connecting to Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Another network of roads, railways and energy pipelines will start in Sinai and go west, all the way to Belgium, writes The Quartz.

Sea routes should connect the South China Sea with Indian Ocean and the southern part of the Pacific. China will begin to defend its own sea ​​routes- the corresponding strategy has already been presented. It says that the Chinese Navy is moving from protecting territorial waters to protect China's interests in the world's oceans.

Photo: The Quartz

It should be noted that China does not need to build all these thousands of miles of railways and other facilities - much of the infrastructure already exists. The trick is to tie it all together.

The New Silk Road is an extremely ambitious, long-term project that reflects China's aspirations as a new, rising superpower. Beijing certainly wants to capitalize on this investment. In addition, China hopes to strengthen political contacts and create a transport network from Pacific Ocean to the Baltic Sea, reduce barriers to trade and investment, expand payment systems in national currencies. Experts believe that China is now clearly emerging as a global power.

How did this idea even come about? Over the past 20 years, China has grown rapidly due to government investment in infrastructure. This boom has created huge industries that create millions of jobs. But the model has exhausted itself - China has already basically built everything, and there is a need to bring all these companies to foreign markets in order to support economic growth and keep people busy, writes Forbes.

But perhaps not everything planned is destined to happen. At the end of 2014, Mexico abruptly canceled a deal with China to build a railway. The cost of the contract was estimated at $3.75 billion. Japan also began to challenge the Chinese plans. It has begun submitting competing bids to build high-speed rail and other projects in Indonesia, Thailand and several other countries, offering low-interest loans and sometimes better technology.

A strong move by China, in turn, was the creation of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, which included 57 founding members. This international financial organization was created to stimulate financial interaction in the Asia-Pacific region, implement infrastructure projects, and expand integration processes. Representatives of the bank's 57 founding countries will gather in Beijing on June 29 to sign an agreement to launch the organization by the end of the year. Given China's contribution to the bank's total capital ($100 billion is the largest), it can be expected to lobby for its interests in developing projects as part of the grand idea of ​​creating global infrastructure.

What projects are already underway?

China's global trade project to create a new Silk Road has started in Hungary. In early June, the Foreign Ministers of Hungary and China, Peter Szijjártó and Wang Yi, signed a memorandum of understanding on the construction of the “Silk Road Economic Belt” and the “Maritime Silk Road of the 21st Century” as part of the “One Belt, One Road” initiative. At the same time, Wang Yi promised Hungary the role of “the locomotive and development leader” of the project and noted: “History will show that this will be wise and the right choice".

Xi Jinping promised to invest $250 billion in South America over the next 10 years. In Latin America, China mines copper and oil, builds houses and hydroelectric dams, highways and railways. From 2000 to 2013, trade turnover between China and the countries of this region increased more than 20 times. The key to increasing China's role in the region could be the construction of a transoceanic canal in Nicaragua.

In January, China and the African Union agreed on a plan to develop roads, railways and airports to link all 54 countries. African countries. And these plans are already underway, including an 875-mile coastal railway in Nigeria ($13 billion), a 500-mile railway connecting the Kenyan cities of Nairobi and Mombasa ($3.8 billion), and railways in Ethiopia and Chad ($4 billion). and $5.6 billion). China's maritime ambitions are also concentrated here, which include the creation of modern ports in a number of states. All these offshore and onshore projects are on a par with resource investments. Thus, the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has large oil projects in Chad and Mozambique. Chinese manufacturers are also building factories on the continent, counting on cheap labor.

Pakistan is critical to China's New Silk Road. China has already invested $42 billion in the country's infrastructure projects. Yes, the countries have always been allies. But China has a specific goal here: it wants to contain Uyghur separatists who have been fomenting violence in the western province of Xinjiang. Some of these separatists have refuge in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Beijing has been pressing both countries to hand over Uyghurs living there to authorities. In addition, transporting goods through Pakistan will help China eliminate the need to use the Strait of Malacca. Beijing fears that if relations with Washington become truly hostile, the US could block the narrow strait and leave the country without an important trade route.

China's influence is also growing in Central Asia, as a result of which Russia's traditional dominance in the region is being called into question. Turkmenistan, for example, supplies more than half of the gas imported by China; China takes oil from Kazakhstan (the country has a $5 billion stake in the Kashagan oil field). The republic also signed $15 billion in gas and uranium contracts with Uzbekistan.

Cooperation with Russia

Russia is considered a “key partner” in Beijing within the framework of the New Silk Road project. However, this idea promises the country not only opportunities, but also risks. Recently, a Russian-Chinese conference on the issue of integration was held at the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Chinese representatives claim that the new Silk Road will allow Russian producers to enter the markets of Cambodia, Burma, Thailand and Malaysia. In addition, new logistics centers will appear on the territory of the Russian Federation. Russian experts point out risks. “The Russians have a joke: what is the difference between a man and a male? A man is the one who has money. Not having the same financial resources as China, Russia will be uncompetitive in this belt, although Beijing does not at all want to bring us harm,” believes Deputy Director of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences Svetlana Glinkina (quote from Nezavisimaya Gazeta). In fact, Russia today is 4.5 times more dependent on China than China is on Russia.

The Russian-Chinese agreements cover eight projects, starting with , which will link Moscow with Kazan and will continue to Beijing, connecting the two countries with Kazakhstan. The contract was won by the Chinese Railway Group. At the same time, another high-speed railway will connect the Chinese province of Girin with Vladivostok, the main Far Eastern port of Russia. Cooperation between the two countries in the field of energy is also actively developing. For example, in May, the Chinese Three Gorges entered into an agreement to build a hydroelectric power station near the Russian-Chinese border.

The first bell

“Great powers love not only to create their own clubs, but to transform their economic power into geopolitical weight. By developing its ties with neighboring and more distant countries, China is setting its own parameters,” writes the Financial Times. According to the publication, China does not intend to turn the established world order upside down. At least for now. Despite competition from the United States in East Asia, China will emerge as the leading power in Eurasia. And the West will have to decide whether it is ready to take part in someone else’s project, the FT summarizes.

"The project (new Silk Road - ed.) is aimed at revolutionary changes economic map of the world. For many, it is perceived as the first signal about the beginning of the battle between East and West for supremacy in Eurasia,” writes OilPrice. “Will the United States join this attempt? If the creation of a new Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which deliberately excludes Russia and China, can shed light on what is happening, then US participation (in the Chinese project - ed.) is unlikely. Opposition to it is obvious,” the publication continues. At the same time, in his opinion, most of the world business community will certainly join the new Silk Road - otherwise it risks not keeping up with the new “gold rush” flaring up in Asia. Unlikely that many international companies will miss out on such a promising idea, which, if successfully implemented, will contribute to the rapid growth of the global economy and help overcome the consequences of the economic crisis, the article says.

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