Xu Poling

(Deputy Director, Research Center for the Economics and Politics of Transitional Countries of Liaoning University)

Author

Xu Poling is Deputy Director, Professor and PhD Supervisor at the Research Center for the Economics and Politics of Transitional Countries of Liaoning University; Executive Director of the China Society of World Economics; and Vice President and Secretary-general of the Liaoning Society of World Economics. Mr. Xu graduated from Renmin University in 1988 with a BA degree in law, and with a PhD degree in world economics from Liaoning University. He studied as a visiting scholar at Moscow State University in 2005 and at the University of Hamburg in 2007. Research areas include world economics, economics and politics of transitional countries, new political economics and new institutional economics. Mr. Xu has authored and co-authored more than 10 books including Research on the Economic Restructuring of Russia and Interaction between Economic Globalization and Transition. He has published more than 60 papers in journals such as World Economics and Politics and Russian Central Asian & East European Studies. He has headed several major state-level and state-funded social sciences projects.

Abstract

Central Asia plays very a significant role in Russia's geopolitical, economic and security strategies. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia turned away from the five countries of Central Asia. But after the failure of its westward strategy, Russia readjusted its strategy immediately and returned to the five Central Asian countries, the Republic of Belarus and Ukraine, regarding them as the two wings of the Commonwealth of Independent States. It has also consolidated its roles in Central Asia by establishing the tariff alliance among Russia, the Republic of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, the Eurasian Economic Community, the Customs Union of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, and the Eurasian Union (including the Eurasian economic space).Since the establishment of the Commonwealth of the Independent States, Russia has been an important economic presence in Central Asia and has exerted huge impacts in this region. It has been the most important trading and investment partner with the five Central Asian countries. The latter's resource-dependent economic model has shaped a closely interdependent relationship with Russia. Since 2008, with the influence of the financial crisis and the five Central Asian countries' market diversification strategy, China and the EU's economic presence has become more prominent in Central Asia. China's share has been rising especially in the import and export of bulk commodity, manufactured goods and investment. Overlaps and competition arise between China's strategy of building the Silk Road Economic Belt and Russia's strategy of Eurasian economic integration in the region.The promotion of China's Silk Road Economic Belt strategy requires further collaboration with Russia in Central Asia under the premise of benefit for various sides. China and Russia signed a joint statement to comprehensively deepen their strategic partnership of coordination on May 20, 2014, in which the articles 20 and 21 specifically confirmed the China-Russia cooperation, which will advance the strategy of the Silk Road Economic Belt.