THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE: THE HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT AND PROSPECTS FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN RUSSIA AND CHINA

The Great Silk Road and the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) were considered by the authors in a historical and modern interpretation as a new transnational strategic platform that will promote trade and investment cooperation, develop the innovation sphere, expand the scale and quality of trade, and deepen energy cooperation. At the new stage of the BRI development, it was noted that it is necessary to formulate clear rules and standards for the implementation of the initiative, deepen its institutional basis. The key problems and prospects for cooperation between Russia and China within the framework of the BRI project, its relationship with the development of the Eurasian Economic Union, the Greater Eurasian Partnership in the context of the development of Russian-Chinese relations were highlighted. The authors identified important promising areas of Russian-Chinese cooperation within the framework of the BRI implementation. These are the development of trade, economic, investment cooperation, expansion of interaction in the digital economy and energy, cultural exchange, intensification of the use of international transport corridors and infrastructure, implementation of the environmental agenda, expansion of strategic cooperation.