China presented to the countries of the Eurasian zone a new and exciting project called the Silk Road Economic Belt. This is not only one of the largest economic projects of recent years, the idea turned out to be very ambitious. The main essence of the proposal is to seek mutually beneficial relationships in a strategic perspective. The economic belt of the Great Silk Road fully corresponds to the general world trends towards globalization and should stimulate the rapprochement of the countries of the Eurasian region. The economic potential of each state that will take part in the project is expected to be revealed.
How did it all start?
The core of the SREB is the SCO, which was originally created to implement this particular project. The association rapidly and rapidly developed. By the time the SCO had exhausted itself a little, new ways of development were needed, and a renewed level of interaction between countries became relevant. An important role in this matter belongs tospecifically to China, since it was the founder of the SCO in 2001 and proposed the project of the route itself in 2013. The official presentation of the project took place in Kazakhstan on September 7, 2013, during a speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping with a lecture at one of the universities.
Actual actions
Already on November 29, the SCO participants actively took up the development of the project. The 13th meeting between the participating countries was held on the territory of Tashkent, where issues related to transport partnership were discussed. It was at this meeting for the first time in history that representatives of both Central and Eastern Europe took part. The result of the negotiations was a cooperation plan for 5 years. According to experts, the SREB will be formed by 24 cities from 8 countries. On September 26, 2014, at the economic forum in Xi'an, issues of investment partnership were discussed, and the task was set to reorient investment flows. With a lack of foreign capital in the West, there is an excessive amount of it in the Asian region.
Silk globalization: meeting the interests of many countries at the same time
The prospects that the economic belt of the Great Silk Road promises are determined by global trends. Active strengthening of developing countries in the role of "engines" of the world economy against the background of the post-crisis situation. In this particular case, the question concerns the BRICS states. Russia acts as a leader in the Eurasian zone. China has visions of being the leader in the Asian world. The countryexpresses a certain interest in the development and stability of Eurasia, is ready to contribute to the active prosperity of the region. In parallel, other developed countries (America and the EU) are gradually mired in crisis and are engaged in redistribution of zones of influence. Russia and China are slowly building up their influence in the region. The economic belt of the Silk Road, according to preliminary estimates, should satisfy the interests of each of the states that lie along it.
Emerging new leaders and stepping up cooperation
The project is adapted to the emergence of new world leaders, which leads to the active emergence of innovative centers of economic development. Global influence is gradually shifting from the west, which is going through difficult times today, to the actively prosperous east. The world center of economic development is gradually occupying the space between Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific space, which leads to the need to create new partnership strategies. Changing zones of influence, as well as the features of world economic prosperity, are forcing many states to integrate their external activities. The question concerns not only the formation of new economic contacts, it refers to the emergence of new monetary unions. In the future, they should help solve the global problem: the strong influence of the US dollar on the economies of almost all countries of the world.
Construction of the Silk Road
Action plan forThe construction of the economic belt of the Silk Road involves, first of all, the construction of new transport routes and the improvement of existing ones. The procedure for registration of the transport network will be implemented using innovative technologies. In the future, the path will include a global network of high-speed highways. It is China that has achieved significant results in this direction in recent years and has become a world leader in the field of road construction. Today, Chinese technology is planned to be exported. The project itself was put forward by China, and its implementation will be carried out under the strict guidance of Beijing itself. The construction of highways will push the development of infrastructure. Regional centers will appear along the roads. It is expected to expand the potential of logistics and tourism, the emergence of a large number of new jobs. All this will lead to diversification and denationalization of the economy, and will become a prerequisite for the development of regions.
No Past Trends or Multilateral Highways
The restored economic belt of the Silk Road will not connect the states of the region only with China and Russia. It is planned to unite the different countries of Eurasia, which will only strengthen cooperation at the regional level. For example, within the framework of the SCO, a corridor was created quite a long time ago that united such countries as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. A similar policy is being pursued in the South Caucasus. It was there that the construction of the Baku-Baku railway was successfully completed. Akhalkalaki-Kars, which is of strategic importance. The Silk Road Economic Belt will provide transport and infrastructure development, which will expand the scope of cooperation in terms of trade. The situation provides certain advantages for China itself, which is known as one of the world's largest producers. The ability to move in different directions will give impetus to the prosperity of the eastern region.
Financial system and more
In accordance with the draft submitted by China, all mutual settlements between states within the region will be carried out not in dollars, but in national currencies. In the future, this should ensure political stability and public security. This is crucial for the countries of the region, which are now struggling with destabilization. The project has good prospects also for the reason that finally the countries will have the opportunity to work together again after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the USSR. Contemporaries can observe the progressive movement between states. The historical, cultural and civilizational similarities between countries play into the hands.
Documentary side of the issue
On March 28, 2013, documents were officially presented, in which the principles and priority areas are already structured, partnership mechanisms within the framework of the SREB project, aimed at strengthening ties at the regional level and aimed at promising work for the prosperity of the future. The main goals of the project are to stimulate the floweconomic factors, resource allocation and deep market integration by strengthening ties between Asia, Africa and Europe. Each state can make its own contribution to the economic belt of the Silk Road. The title documents call for the coordination of political actions, the development of infrastructural links, free trade and financial integration. China plans to take advantage of each region separately, systematically raising the level of openness to deep interaction both domestically and internationally. China is ready to intensively improve the content and form of the initiative, develop schedules for the implementation of the plan, and create new maps of partnership mechanisms with participating countries. The joint construction action plan was published just three days before the application for joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Financial Institute. It is this credit institution that will finance regional infrastructure projects.
What is special about the project?
The Silk Road Economic Belt project - according to its creators - is not based on a geopolitical development strategy. The SREB has nothing in common with the European Union and the Customs Union. The main essence of the idea is the strategic coordination of partners, the relationship between which has been formed for centuries. Paper agreements within the union are not so important. The economic belt of the new Silk Road does not oblige or force anyone to integrate. The project should be the basis forfruitful cooperation, but not a reason for the emergence of new conflicts. Looking globally, China is ready to implement infrastructure construction and shape a new economic reality. China's interest in implementing the idea is based on the desire to develop the country's western regions and balance its own economy as much as possible.
SREB as a stage of global integration
The Silk Road Economic Belt and Maritime Silk Road are not purely political ambitions. This is a kind of natural continuation of the Chinese reform. The project started long before Xi Jinping officially announced it. The Chinese managed to seize the moment to start a successful regional partnership, without which modern world globalization is ineffective. Thanks to the timely strengthening of economic and energy cooperation with the states of Central Asia, China has become the center of the SREB, while simultaneously strengthening the status of Russia's largest importer.
Economic Belt and Russia
Russia continues to consider the Silk Road Economic Belt as a potential destination. Cooperation, or rather, its prospects and directions, will be discussed in May 2015. The possibilities of interaction between the countries will probably be discussed between the heads of state in the near future. A statement about a possible meeting came from Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Russia, despite the fact that the date of the meeting has not yet been set, has already announced its participation in the project. The Silk Road Economic Belt and Russia are not so far away, in addition, the state is interested in new opportunities and new directions for development and investment.
What tasks are planned to be solved?
What are the experts' views? Regarding the Silk Road Economic Belt, they say that on the eve of the project implementation, several key tasks will have to be solved. This is an exchange of views on aspects of economic development, which should help identify likely points of conflict. It is planned to develop programs for their elimination and start the unification of countries, taking into account political, legal and economic practices. The transit and transport system in the future will connect the states of Central Asia and China, will connect the region with Africa and Europe. It is planned to gradually and purposefully reduce, and then completely eliminate trade and investment barriers between all participants in the SREB. This will play a key role in unlocking the investment and trade potential of each country.
