Beijing’s new Silk Road may extend to Moscow-led Eurasian union
The two nations will study linking China’s trade and infrastructure plan with the Eurasian Economic Union proposed by Russia in 2014
China and Russia are working to connect their flagship economic diplomacy projects, a move that could potentially reduce tensions between Beijing and Moscow as they jostle for regional influence.
China’s Ministry of Commerce said last Thursday that the two countries would sign an agreement for a study on the feasibility of linking China’s “Belt and Road Initiative” to the Russia-backed Eurasian Economic Union. As President Xi Jinping visits Russia today, the link will be on his agenda during his talks with his counterpart, Vladimir Putin.
While Xi and Putin have shown friendship, the Kremlin has always been wary about China’s growing influence in Central Asian countries which are traditionally Russia’s backyard, and the deep-rooted mistrust has hindered progress in cooperation.
“The rhetoric ... has not been matched by progress on the ground,” said Jonathan Hillman, a fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies. The feasibility study was “just the latest expression of interest in improving ties” and not any big breakthrough between Russia and China, Hillman added.
The Eurasian Economic Union was proposed by Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in 2014, aiming to create a single market with a free flow of labour, capital and goods by 2025 in the former Soviet Union. Kyrgyzstan and Armenia joined the intercontinental union in later years. The Central Asian countries also happen to be on the map of China’s new Silk Road scheme, a massive infrastructure and trade plan.