Chinese Eastern Railway: Influence on the development of agriculture in Northeast China

The article attempts to show the role of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER) in the development of the Northeastern lands of China at the turn of the 20th centuriy. CER had a great influence on the development of economic and political relations between Russia and China; it had an ambiguous influence on the process of a more and more active use of lands of the four northern provinces: Heilujiang, Jilin, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia. In addition, the study of the problem focuses on the possible combination of different points of view of historians of both countries: from colonialism to the positive results and success of the process of promoting the project of economic development in the broadest sense. While emphasizing the role of Russia which built CER and had influence on the direct expansion of the project through the construction of the Siberian branch railroad, one should not forget about Japanese interest to this region of China; their vector of influence was to control the economy and defense of Manchuria, expand their own commodity markets and solve the problem of overpopulation. After Russia's defeat for domination in the region, CER was divided and Japanese influence extended: the Manchurian part of CER south of Chanchun came to Japan. The question of CER management and its status accompanied the project from the very beginning of it, as numerous documents and studies testify. CER connected the region rich in resources with domestic and international markets, which promoted technology spread, capital development, labor force buildup in areas along the railway line. The development of agricultural resources in the Northeast not only obviated the domestic market, but also began to gradually orient to the world market. The transit of goods - and the development of industry, trade and services on this basis - facilitated the rapid emergence of modern cities. This changed the face of the Northeast. The flow of migrants from other regions of the country and from abroad, as well as the flow of foreign investments, rushed here. The combination of Japanese and Russian capital investment with the agricultural economy promoted the rise of the processing industry, and the railroad greatly facilitated the aggregation of economic resources in the Northeast, stimulating the development of agricultural resources and the resulting economic prosperity, cultural flourishing, and population growth. On the other hand, the emergence of the railroad was imbued with colonization, aggressive overtones: from the beginning of its construction, CER concentrated exclusive political, economic and military rights and interests of Japan and Russia with different degree of capitalism and different ways of economic invasion.

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