The role of China in the Russian historical phenomenon of territories of priority development

The combination of unfavorable conditions for economic development that appeared in the early tenths of this century (such as the economic crisis, unfavorable exchange rates, and increased unemployment) made Russia extremely urgent on the question of creating mechanisms to attract foreign investment in order to rehabilitate the economy. One of these mechanisms was The Federal Law “On Territories of Advancement of Socio-Economic Development in the Russian Federation”, adopted in 2014. This law provided the creation of zones with particularly favorable conditions for the implementation of various commercial projects. From the historical point of view, the idea of creating territories with special economic conditions is far from new. The first need for such enclaves mentioned, dates back to the 20s of the last century. Such measures were one of the components of the so-called New Economic Policy, designed to lead the country out of the deepest crisis that followed the four-year civil war. Due to the sharply changed priorities of the soviet leaders, after several years, these measures, were never implemented again. In 2013, the President of the Russian Federation put forward the idea of creating territories of priority development in the Far East. After that, a discussion regarding the advisability of such economic and political moves broke out among economists. The reason for the discussion was the bad experience of creating seventeen special economic zones in the early 90s of the XX century, of which only six can be called conditionally effective. The main goal of creating these zones was the need to regulate (increase) foreign investment in the not-so-healthy Russian economy. It is quite difficult to compare the economic stagnation of the 90s with the crisis of recent years, since a big difference is observed both in its domestic and foreign policy and in the depth of the worsening economy. However, the reaction of the federal authorities is similar -in both cases, the main way of overcoming the protracted crisis is the massive attraction of foreign investment. And, despite the unsuccessful experience of special economic zones, in 2015 the initiative of the President was implemented by the decision of the Government. It is interesting that all first territories of advanced development appeared in the Far Eastern region, and not in the regions of Central Russia or the southern coastal regions, where the countries of the European Union make their investments because of their territorial proximity. This fact leads to speculations that the first experimental territories were aimed at the investors from one particular region, which includes such countries as Japan, South Korea, and, of course, China. Russian-Chinese relations, both in the political and in the commercial sphere, have undergone a number of tremendous changes over the past 50 years. Throughout the nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries, Russia took a patronizing position in respect to China, whether it was the mediation in the British-Chinese negotiations after the Second Opium done by Count Ignatiev, or full support by the Soviet Union for the young Chinese People's Republic. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the simultaneous Opening of China, the situation changed. China became an economic superpower, while Russia experienced one economic crisis after another. At a time when superiority in military power ceased to play a key role in international relations, one could ascertain the fact that China seized a strategic initiative in the bilateral relations with Russia. As the result, the main beneficiaries of almost all territories of advanced development created in Russia were Chinese commercial representatives. Despite the negative reaction of the local population, and the obvious absence of any positive results, the territories of advanced development not only continue to exist, but were also increased in number. This fact approves, that the factor of China in this historical phenomenon plays an extremely important, if not decisive role. This conclusion, makes obvious the colossal influence of the PRC on the development of regional policy in the recent decades of the Russian history, as well as the lack of alternatives to Chinese capital for the most promising economic regions of Russia - the regions of the Far East. In the future, this may lead to a monopoly of Chinese business in all spheres of this region, which, in combination with the quiet expansion policy, may lead to the situation when the Federal Center experiences a partial loss of influence and control over the Far East regions. The situation that was developed around the territories of advanced development demonstrates the failure of the “Turn to the East” policy. There was no tangible economic benefit for the initiator of this policy - Russia, aiming the getting out of the protracted crisis. And the object of this "turn", China, as a result, simply took the historic opportunity provided to strengthen influence in the region.

Keywords

Authors

References