The economic belt of the Silk Road. Plan of action for the construction of the economic belt of the Silk Road

China presented to the countries of the Eurasian zone a new and exciting project called the "Economic belt of the Silk Road". This is not only one of the most ambitious economic projects of recent years, the idea turned out to be very ambitious. The main essence of the proposal is to find mutually beneficial relations in a strategic perspective. The economic belt of the Great Silk Road fully corresponds to the general world tendencies towards globalization and should stimulate the rapprochement of the countries of the Eurasian region. It is foreseen to disclose the economic potential of each state that will participate in the project.

How did it all start?

The core of the EPPP is the organization of the SCO, which was originally created to implement this particular project. The unification was rapidly and rapidly developing. By the time the SCO had exhausted itself a little, new ways of development were needed, the renewed level of interaction between the countries became urgent. A big role in this matter belongs to China, since it was made by the creator of the SCO in 2001 and proposed the draft of the road in 2013. Officially, the presentation of the project took place in Kazakhstan on September 7, 2013, during the speech of Chinese President Xi Jinping with a lecture in one of the universities.

Actual actions

Already on November 29, the SCO participants took an active part in the drafting of the project. On the territory of Tashkent, the 13th meeting between the participating countries was held, where issues related to transport partnership were discussed. It was at this meeting that representatives of both Central and Eastern Europe took part for the first time in history. The result of the negotiations was a cooperation plan for 5 years. According to the calculations of specialists, EPS will be formed by 24 cities from 8 countries. September 26, 2014 at the economic forum in Xi'an discussed issues of investment partnership, was tasked with reorienting investment flows. With a lack of foreign capital in the West, there is an excessive number in the Asian region.

Silk globalization: satisfaction of the interests of many countries simultaneously

Prospectivity, which promises the economic belt of the Great Silk Road, is determined by world trends. Active strengthening of developing countries as the "engines" of the world economy against the backdrop of the post-crisis situation. In this particular case, the issue is affected by the BRICS states. Russia acts as a leader in the Eurasian zone. China has views on the title of leader in the Asian world. The country expresses a certain interest in the development and stability of Eurasia, is ready to contribute to the region's active prosperity. In parallel, other developed countries (the US and the EU) are gradually mired in a crisis and are engaged in the redistribution of impact zones. Russia and China are slowly engaged in building up their influence in the region. The economic belt of the Silk Road, according to preliminary estimates, must satisfy the interests of each of the states that lie along it.

Emergence of new leaders and activation of cooperation

The project is adapted to the emergence of new world leaders, which leads to the active emergence of innovative centers of economic development. World influence is gradually shifting from the west, which today is going through difficult times, to an actively prosperous east. The world center of economic development gradually occupies the space between Eurasia and the Asia-Pacific space, which leads to the need to create new partnership strategies. Changing the zones of influence, as well as the features of world economic prosperity, compel many states to integrate their external activities. The issue 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 world problem: the strong influence of the US dollar on the economies of almost all countries in the world.

Construction of the "Silk Road"

The action plan for the construction of the economic belt of the Silk Road envisages, first of all, the construction of new transport highways and the improvement of existing ones. The procedure for design of the transport network will be implemented using innovative technologies. In the future, the global network of high-speed highways will be on the way. It was China that in recent years achieved significant results in this direction, became the world leader in the field of highway construction. Today, Chinese technology is planned to export. The project itself is put forward by China, and its implementation will be carried out under the strict guidance of Beijing itself. The construction of highways will encourage the development of infrastructure. Regional centers will appear along roads. 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 to the denationalization of the economy, will become a prerequisite for the development of the regions.

No trends of the past, 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 different countries of Eurasia, which will only strengthen cooperation at the regional level. For example, within the framework of the SCO, a corridor has already been created for quite a long time, which united such countries as Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. A similar policy is being implemented in the South Caucasus. It was there that the construction of the Baku-Akhalkalaki-Kars railroad, which is of strategic importance, was successfully completed. The economic belt of the Silk Road will provide transport and infrastructure development, which will expand the sphere of cooperation in the aspect of trade. The situation provides certain advantages for China itself, which is known as one of the world's largest producers. The possibility of moving in different directions will give impetus to the prosperity of the eastern region.

The financial system and not only

In accordance with the project, which was submitted by China, all mutual settlements between the states within the region will be implemented not by dollars, but by national currencies. This in the future should ensure political stability and public security. This is of decisive importance for the countries of the region, which are now struggling with destabilization. The project has good prospects also for the reason that at last countries will have an opportunity to again cooperate together after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the USSR. Contemporaries can observe the progressive movement between states. The historical, cultural and civilizational similarity between countries plays into the hands.

Documentary side of the question

On March 28, 2013, documents were officially presented, in which the principles and priority directions, partnership mechanisms within the framework of the EEIP project aimed at strengthening ties at the regional level and aimed at prospective work for the prosperity of the future are already structured. The main objectives of the project are to stimulate the flow of economic factors, resource allocation and deep market integration by strengthening the links between Asia, Africa and Europe. Each state can make its contribution to the economic belt of the Silk Road. Legal documents call for coordination of political actions, development of infrastructure links, free trade and financial integration. China plans to take advantage of each region separately, systematically increasing the level of openness for deep interaction both within the country and at the international level. 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 the mechanisms of partnership with the participating countries. The joint construction action plan was published just three days before the application was submitted for the accession to the Asian Financial Institute of infrastructure investments. It is this credit institution that will be involved in financing regional infrastructure projects.

What is the peculiarity of the project?

The project "Economic belt of the Silk Road" - according to its creators - is not based on a geopolitical development strategy. EPSI has no similarity with the European Union and the Customs Union. The main essence of the idea is the strategic coordination of partners, the mutual relations between which have been formed for centuries. Paper arrangements within the union are not so important. The economic belt of the new Silk Road does not oblige anyone and does not force integration. The project should become a basis for fruitful cooperation, but not an occasion for the emergence of new conflicts. If viewed globally, China is ready to implement infrastructure construction and form a new economic reality. China's interest in realizing the idea is based on the desire to develop the western regions of the country and to balance its own economy as much as possible.

ESRP as a stage of world integration

The economic belt of the Silk Road and the sea Silk Road are not the results of purely political ambitions. This is a kind of natural continuation of the Chinese reform. The project was launched long before Xi Jinping officially announced it. The Chinese managed to catch the moment to start a successful regional partnership, without which modern 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 EPPP, while strengthening the status of Russia's largest importer.

The economic belt and Russia

The economic belt of the Silk Road does not cease to be considered Russia as a potential direction. Cooperation, or rather, its prospects and areas, will be discussed as early as May 2015. Opportunities for interaction between the countries will probably be negotiated between the heads of state in the short term. The 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 appointed, has already announced its participation in the project. The economic belt of the Silk Road and Russia are not so far away, in addition, the state is interested in new opportunities and in new directions for development and investment.

What tasks are planned?

What are the views of experts? On the economic belt of the Silk Road, they say that on the eve of the project will have to solve several key tasks. This is an exchange of views on the aspects of economic development, which should help determine the likely points of conflict. It is planned to develop programs to eliminate them and begin 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, the trade and investment barriers between all the participants of the EPS. This will play a key role in revealing the investment and trade potential of each country.