These days, Beijing has become the world capital. From Moscow to Beijing by train in two days. Is this possible? Perhaps quite soon. Today Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing to participate in the “One Belt, One Road” forum. 28 heads of state and government attended the forum.

We all know about the Great Silk Road from China to Europe. It has existed for thousands of years, dating back to the times of the Roman Empire. It was along this route that gunpowder and paper, Chinese inventions, came to Europe. Then China weakened, and the Great Silk Road was no longer needed. China is strong again. And several years ago he took the initiative of a new project - the revival of the great path. And even more. It's not just a path. This is a project to involve most Eurasian countries into a single economic space.

The construction of a high-speed railway from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic is in the plans of this grandiose project. Therefore, it will actually be possible to travel from Moscow to Beijing by train in two days.

If we talk in general about this initiative, “One Belt - One Road,” then it is still difficult to even estimate the total investment. But it is clear that we will be talking about trillions of dollars. And Russia, with its vast space, reserves of natural resources, and scientific potential, can play a leading role in this project.

The opening ceremony is more than laconic - more than three years after the Chinese first mentioned the grandiose project “One Belt - One Road” at the forum, decorations are no longer needed to attract attention. There are almost three dozen heads of state in the hall. Those who are called friends in the Middle Kingdom are in the first row, to the left of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish Recep Erdogan, to the right - Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader came to the podium second. And his speech went far beyond formal words about Russian-Chinese friendship. Putin spoke about the future of all of Eurasia, a partnership that could change the political and economic landscapes of the entire continent, and perhaps the whole world.

“Many previous models and factors of economic development are practically exhausted. Protectionism is becoming the norm, and its hidden form is unilateral illegitimate restrictions, including on the supply and distribution of technologies. The ideas of openness and free trade are increasingly rejected today. And often by those who recently acted as their champions. Imbalances in socio-economic development and the crisis of the previous model of globalization lead to negative consequences for relations between states and for international security.

Poverty, social disorder, and colossal gaps in the level of development of countries and regions create a breeding ground for international terrorism, extremism, and illegal migration. We will not cope with these challenges if we do not overcome stagnation and stagnation in global economic development,” said Vladimir Putin.

The Eurasian megaproject “One Belt - One Road” is essentially the same Great Silk Road along which caravans with gunpowder, spices and silk, of course, traveled from Asia to Europe even before our era.

The modern interpretation of the Silk Road combines land transport corridors, railways, especially, and sea transport routes. Southern, from China to Greece, skirting the shores of Asia and the East. And the Northern - otherwise, the Russian Northern Sea Route, the potential of which Vladimir Putin reminded today.

“We are consistently modernizing the maritime, railway, and automobile infrastructures, expanding throughput Baikal-Amur and Trans-Siberian railways. Significant resources are being invested in developing the Northern Sea Route so that it becomes globally competitive transport artery. Taking a broader view, the infrastructure projects announced within the framework of the EurAsEC and the One Belt - One Road initiative, in conjunction with the Northern Sea Route, are capable of creating a fundamentally new transport configuration of the Eurasian continent. And this is the key to the development of territories and the revival of economic and investment activity. Let’s build such roads of development and prosperity together,” said Vladimir Putin.

On the sidelines of the forum, the Russian president spoke, as diplomats say, on his feet with Turkish leader Recep Erdogan. In total, representatives from hundreds of countries come to Beijing. Nobody wants to be left on the side of the new Silk Road. Many capitals on the route from Beijing to London are counting on multi-billion dollar investments from the Middle Kingdom. Russia is among those countries that are ready to independently invest in the future of a united Eurasia.

“Russia is ready not only to trade, but also to invest in the creation of joint ventures and new production facilities on the territory of partner countries, in the development of industrial assembly, sales and services. It is important that entrepreneurs in our countries earn money and achieve success together and create competitive technological and production alliances. For such cooperation to be effective, it is necessary to move towards unification, and in the future, towards the development of uniform standards and technical regulations for both traditional industrial and agricultural products, and for new high-tech products,” said the Russian President.

Even the melody of the song “Moscow Windows,” which Vladimir Putin performed on the piano while waiting for the start of a bilateral meeting with the Chinese leader, was in the spirit of a world without borders.

China highly appreciates the fact that Russia opposes the policy of protectionism, that despite sanctions, it has overcome difficulties in development and refrained from belligerent rhetoric.

“In the face of the complex and rapidly changing situation in the world, China and Russia have shown a sense of responsibility as great states, making efforts to politically resolve the situation in Syria, the nuclear issue of the Korean Peninsula, and played a stabilizing role in ensuring peace,” Xi Jinping said.

“More than ever, we need new mechanisms for cooperation, opening doors for each other, removing various barriers and obstacles. We managed to overcome negative trends and achieve renewed growth in bilateral trade turnover - by 4% in 2016, and in January-March current year the growth rate has already reached 37%. But what is especially important and what makes us happy is that the structure of our trade turnover is changing, the share of mechanical engineering and agricultural products is increasing. Moreover, these are flows in both directions,” noted Vladimir Putin.

The leaders of the two countries discussed the further development of relations behind closed doors. They came into view of television cameras again only during a working breakfast.

Russian reception house in one of the mansions. Following his Chinese friend, Putin receives European friends: the leaders of the Czech Republic and Greece.

The meeting with Milos Zeman immediately went beyond the formal protocol. That this would be a friendly conversation became obvious when the Czech president refused an interpreter and addressed Minister Lavrov in Russian.

Milos Zeman: “Mr. Minister, are you a smoker like me? But Mr. President prohibits smoking.”

Sergei Lavrov: “Not so much Mr. President as our State Duma.”

Vladimir Putin: “Several years ago, we also met with you here in China on the sidelines of an international event... Translation?”

Milos Zeman: “There is no need to translate, we all understand, some kind of Russian dialect. Maybe it’s a dialect of Russia.”

Vladimir Putin: “Literary Russian language.”

Milos Zeman: “Yes!”

Vladimir Putin: “In the economic sphere, despite the decline in previous years, we have seen an increase in trade turnover at the beginning of this year. Even more than 44%. This is a good sign and a good trend that we will need to continue.”

Milos Zeman: “The number of tourists is growing, this is very positive.”

During the negotiations with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, it was no longer possible without translators. And still, things are going uphill - the flow of tourists and trade turnover between Moscow and Athens are growing. Integration cooperation between the countries of Eurasia is already not only generating billions in profits and hundreds of thousands of jobs, but also helping to overcome social unsettlement and the gap at the level of development of countries. However, each of the regions of the vast continent still has a list of unresolved problems.

The Russian delegation brought a ready-made solution to the forum - the “Energy Ring” project developed by Moscow. Moscow has long been ready to begin deliveries. They are even more relevant now that China is thinking about the electric silk road - the Asian Ultra-High Voltage Network. And judging by the way Vladimir Putin is received in China, it is obvious that Russia and its continental neighbors have more than one project of similar magnitude ahead.

After a meeting with the Premier of the Chinese State Council, a joint photo of the premiers and presidents, the evening of the distinguished guests of Beijing continued at a gala dinner. The first toast is from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

When it was already dark outside, the participants of the first Belt and Road Forum also had a gala concert at the Chinese Grand Theater. At first glance, it is a completely traditional oriental show, but if you look closely, it is a mixture of cultural traditions from the entire continent.

China throughout recent years unsuccessfully built a route bypassing Russia, and, it seems, came to the conclusion that without Russia the Silk Road would not take place. On May 14-15, 2017, the Silk Road Summit will take place in Beijing, where the Russian President was invited. As RT experts note, Vladimir Putin will be the main guest of the summit.

The “One Belt, One Road” strategy is to create a transport and logistics system connecting China with the countries of the Eurasian continent.

"Maritime Silk Road of the XXI century." - most of the cargo is delivered from China by sea through the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea. Today this is a relatively inexpensive route, but too long. For example, a sea container ship takes approximately 30-40 days to reach the ports of St. Petersburg.

The "Silk Road Economic Belt" is a land route that has encountered difficulties. So far, land transport accounts for only 6% of cargo coming from China, with most of it transported along the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Transib has enough power to transport huge amount cargo. But there are problems. For example, a railway track. Since the time of Tsar Nicholas I, the railway gauge in Russia (1520 mm) does not coincide with the European one (1435 mm) and, as a result, with the Chinese one.

Previously, cars were actually moved from one platform to another. The losses were insignificant - about 2 hours for 16-18 cars. Now Russian Railways has created special new-generation platforms with automatic changes in the width of wheel pairs at speeds of up to 60 km/h. With them, temporary losses were leveled out.

The Trans-Siberian Railway needs investment and modernization.

“Russia is counting on investments in the development of Russian infrastructure, including transport systems; this is the basis of the economic component of the Silk Road. But these investments will have to be received on a competitive basis, intense collaboration,” said Vladimir Petrovsky, chief researcher at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “Connecting to the Silk Road is a chance for Russia to qualitatively improve its infrastructure, including transport.”

Land schemes
The first and most risky route was to go through Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. But the war in Syria and Daesh prevented the implementation of the plan. Perhaps China will return to this option later.

Trans-Caspian International Transport Route (TITR) - was supposed to pass through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey. But the presence of two sea crossings across the Caspian and Black Seas complicates the passage of goods. Two weeks is the minimum, and any storm can delay the passage of cargo.

The third way to bypass Russia is through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine. The same problems arose as with the TMTM project - sea crossings. The test train completed the journey without cargo in 15 days due to the absence of customs checks.

The fourth option is the “Russian” route through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Poland. The train loaded with Chinese goods arrived in London on January 18, 2017, having covered 12 thousand kilometers in 18 days without any problems. The membership of Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus in the EAEU helped save time on the transit of goods across borders. There are no sea crossings or mountain ranges along the way.

Russia and China are interested in cooperation - in combining the projects of the Silk Road and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). In the future, the process of cooperation between the EAEU and the Silk Road may become the basis for the formation of a Greater Eurasian Partnership with the participation of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Representatives of more than 100 countries, including 29 heads of state and government, participate in the forum. Photo by Reuters

Chinese President Xi Jinping promised to invest $124 billion in the construction of ports, roads and other types of infrastructure in the world. Opening the “One Belt, One Road” forum, he emphasized that Beijing is not seeking to increase its influence, but wants everyone to benefit from the project. Beijing's proposals found support from Russian President Vladimir Putin. But, as experts say, the modernization of the China-Central Asia-Europe route could reduce the importance of the Trans-Siberian Railway. In addition, the role of China in the former Soviet republics will grow, while Russia’s will decline.

Trade is important tool economic development, Xi said, kicking off the summit, which is attended by leaders of 29 countries. Only in the form of assistance to developing countries and international institutions China intends to provide $9 billion. At the same time, the President of the People's Republic of China hastened to assure diplomats of Western countries that the New Silk Road plan is not at all an attempt to promote China's interests globally to the detriment of others.

“We will not repeat the old path, when enemies played games for influence among themselves. Instead we will create new model cooperation and mutual benefit,” he said. In short, the idea is Chinese, but thanks to it everyone will benefit.

However, Japan and India refrained from participating in the forum, fearing that the geopolitical ambitions of the world's second economy were hidden under the slogan of development. As the BBC notes, the leaders of the United States and several other Western countries also did not arrive. They suspect China is laying claim to global leadership at a time when America and the European Union are preoccupied with their own internal problems.

Judging by Putin's speech in Beijing, Moscow does not share these fears. “Russia sees the future of the Eurasian partnership not just as establishing new ties between states and economies, it should change the political and economic landscape, bringing peace, stability, and prosperity to Eurasia,” he noted. At a meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Putin said that Russia and China have not only overcome the decline in trade and economic relations, but have also entered a growth trajectory. China remains Russia's largest trading partner. According to forecasts by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, trade turnover will increase to $80 billion by the end of the year.

Putin said Xi Jinping's upcoming visit to Russia will be a key event in bilateral relations. “Our government, the administration of the President of the Russian Federation, the office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China are preparing a whole package of good documents, including an action plan for the implementation of our strategic initiatives for the coming years,” he noted.

Despite the growth in trade turnover, Putin said, Moscow and Beijing have work to do. According to him, this concerns international problems, where Russia and China always stand “shoulder to shoulder” and support each other.

It is not surprising that the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov described the meeting of the two leaders as “very detailed, very eventful.” According to him, Putin and Xi reconciled watches according to the list current issues bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional issues. They, in particular, expressed concern about North Korea's missile tests

In a conversation with NG, leading researcher at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Larin, noted that dozens of large agreements, long-term contracts, and joint projects that make it possible to attract billions of dollars of Chinese investment in various sectors of the economy have become an absolute win for Russia. This is perspective. So far, however, their volume is small in comparison with other countries. According to Chinese data, in 2015 accumulated direct investment in the Russian Federation amounted to $14.01 billion.

“Russia is most actively involved as a transit country in the functioning of the Eurasian highway China-Kazakhstan-Europe. Modernization of this route and its more intensive use can give Russia, in addition to increasing revenues from transit, also a revival of traffic on internal routes and an impetus for the development of adjacent territories,” the expert explained.

However, for Russia itself, modernization and more active use of the China-Central Asia-Europe route, along with unconditional advantages, also has obvious disadvantages. Namely: this will reduce the interest of carriers in the Trans-Siberian Railway as a trans-Eurasian corridor, which is already losing points in competition with this route, since the presence of bottlenecks, low speed, inflated tariffs, and cumbersome cargo clearance procedures have long been the disadvantages of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

Part of the future route should be an expressway Railway Moscow–Kazan. Decisions about her change. The parties agreed on who would do what and who would receive what. We have come to the conclusion that rolling stock will be made in Russia. But China, in principle, sets strict demands. His equipment must be used, his work force and that he should own a share of the enterprise. This is the situation in Myanmar and Pakistan.

It is unknown whether the Moscow-Kazan road will be profitable. But if it is not profitable, then Russian government undertakes to cover losses. Another disadvantage for Russia stemming from the construction of the New Silk Road is that it should significantly increase the economic and geopolitical influence of the PRC in Central Asia, while Russia’s relative influence will inevitably decrease, Larin concluded.

As reported by the AP agency, the formal pretext explaining India's absence from the forum was that Chinese state-owned companies are operating in the part of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan. Delhi believes that this effectively confirms Pakistan's claims. But in reality, as MGIMO professor Sergei Lunev told NG, the contradictions between India and China are deep, they cover many problems.

"IN long term India views China as its main adversary in Asia. Relations between the two countries are characterized by complete distrust of each other. Indians are concerned about Sino-Pakistani cooperation and Chinese influence in South Asia. The Indian course in this regard is logical,” the expert emphasized. – India and China have a common approach to global issues. Therefore, they cooperate within the framework of the Russia-India-China and BRICS triangle. The two countries are in complete agreement on Afghanistan and Central Asia. But in South Asia, India has always perceived itself as the South Asian hegemon.”

Transport artery from East to West, from China to Western Europe, the most ambitious project in the field of transport in recent decades. All this is about the “New Silk Road”.

In September 2013, Chinese President Xi Jinping proposed new idea this ambitious project called "One Belt - One Road". The essence of the idea is to unite the transport infrastructure of Eurasia into a single and integral system through which China will be able to freely export and import goods (manufactured goods, light industrial products, natural resources, etc.) to the European Union and other countries of the continent.

What does this mean in practical terms? China is engaged in the construction of various transport infrastructure projects, namely railways, highways, ports and pipelines.

As a result of the implementation of this project, the transport system of the PRC should gain “points of contact” with the transport systems of Western countries, primarily the countries of the European Union and, possibly, the United Kingdom, which will allow China to increase trade turnover with its consumers from this region. And this is additional income for the Chinese economy. These are huge markets where China, according to some experts, was deliberately not invited for a long time.

What has been done and what will be done in the future? So far, the Chinese leadership is primarily engaged in diplomatic negotiations with a number of countries, including Russia and Kazakhstan.

For the needs of the project, the Silk Road Company investment fund was created, with $40 billion at its disposal. In the future, the Chinese leadership expects support from a number of European and Islamic countries in the field of financing the construction of some facilities that can benefit not only the New Silk Road, but also the infrastructure of those states on whose territory they will be built.

The main part of the project must be carried out by land (railway). It will consist of 3 parts (corridors). The northern part of the railway should pass through Russia, and the southern and central part through Kazakhstan and other countries in the region. After connecting the railways of East and West, it is planned to build highways.

Opinion: experts in the field of geopolitics assure that our country has its own ambitions, and to be part of Chinese project, the Chinese world is not so important for us (enough). But at the same time, both states are looking for points of closer interaction, since a role has emerged for Russia in Russia, and for Russia, China is a profitable investor.

The main part of the project is the route from China to the European Union through the territory of Central Asia. Its length should be about 6,500 kilometers. The route of this path is as follows: China-Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan-Turkmenistan-Iran-Iraq-Syria-Turkey-European Union.

The sea part of the route should pass along the coasts of China, the countries of Southeast Asia, India and Egypt, thus reaching the Mediterranean Sea through the Suez Canal.

What about implementation? So far, the main achievement of the “New Silk Road” is the opening of the longest railway (freight) route in the world - Harbin-Hamburg, which passes through the territory of Russia (in February of this year a new railway route was opened between Harbin and Yekaterinburg).

In general, the project can play a very positive role for the world economy, including the Russian and Kazakh ones, however, the main part of the route bypasses the territory of Russia, so it is too early to talk about the real results of this project.

For the economy of Kazakhstan one of the most significant projects in the implementation of the concept of this project was the construction railway track with a length of 293 kilometers between Zhetygen and Korgas. This railway has already become part of the Chongqing-Duisburg highway.

Silk Road Summit in China May 14–15, 2017

Leaders from 28 countries are coming to China, including the President of Russia. The One Belt, One Road international summit begins in Beijing. Representatives of 110 states and 20 international organizations. This is the first time that China has assembled such a representative meeting in the economic sphere. Now, a bid is being made for international economic leadership.

According to press reports, Beijing intends to sign two dozen agreements with new countries.

Russia is not a Silk Road country, but the press calls our country China's main ally.

In addition to Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, and the Prime Minister of Italy, Paolo Gentiloni, are expected.

It is interesting that Crimea was previously part of the Silk Road, until Russia gave public signals that it was ready to allow China to build its port here. And in Europe, not everyone wants to see cheap Chinese goods, which can easily displace local producers. There is talk of protectionism. However, the United States also looks at the rise of the Celestial Empire with concern. A separate and very complex issue is China’s relationship with the Islamic world.

President Erdogan, who is preparing to hold back-to-back meetings with world leaders, will embark on a true world tour in a hitherto unprecedented manner over six days. Today Erdogan leaves for China.

After China, Erdogan will fly in the opposite direction to America, a flight that will last 13.5 hours.

Thus, the president’s world tour will begin with a trip to the east and end with an arrival in Turkey from the west six days later.

Today the president faces a ten-hour flight to Beijing. First of all, Erdogan will take part in the Belt and Road Forum, which will take place on May 13-15 in the Chinese capital. Along with the UN Secretary General, the heads of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the forum will be attended by heads of state and government from 28 countries and more than 250 ministers.

At this event, aimed at increasing economic cooperation between Far East and Europe, issues of energy and transport communications will come to the fore.

The forum on the topic “Belt and Road: Cooperation for Shared Prosperity” will address issues related to infrastructure, transport communications, economic cooperation, trade, attracting investment in industrial production, energy and energy resources, financial support, communication between peoples, protection environment, cooperation in the field of maritime shipping.

Context

On the sidelines of this forum, Erdogan will also hold a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In less than 15 days, Erdogan will again meet face to face with Vladimir Putin.

The main agenda of the summit will be the latest events in Syria and the fight against terrorism.

Erdogan intends to address world leaders by delivering a speech on May 14 at the “Dialogue on high level"as part of the Belt and Road forum: in the name of international cooperation, as well as on May 15 at the round table of leaders. Erdogan will also hold bilateral negotiations with the heads of state and government who will take part in the forum. At these negotiations, the main topic will also be Syria and the development of bilateral relations.

After China - USA

The second leg of Erdogan's world tour will begin on May 15 with a flight from Beijing to Washington. Travel time will be 13.5 hours. If Erdogan is able to leave Beijing on the evening of May 15 at around 6:00 pm, then he will land in Washington again on the evening of May 15, at approximately 8:30 pm. And due to the time difference, the journey will last 2.5 hours.

Let us remind you that the time in Beijing is five hours ahead of Turkey, and Washington is seven hours behind Ankara.

First personal meeting with Trump

On May 16, Erdogan will meet with US President Donald Trump at the White House. This will be the first personal meeting between the two leaders.

The main agenda for face-to-face and delegation talks will be Syria, PYD, Fethullah Gülen's FETÖ terrorist organization, Gülen extradition, Iraq and the fight against terrorism.
In addition, during his visit to the United States, Erdogan will also meet with representatives of non-governmental organizations, research centers and businesses.

InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial staff.

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