Russia's trans-Eurasian development program, China's Belt initiative complement each other: Russian Railways chief

The Russia-proposed idea of the Trans-Eurasian Belt Development and China's Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative are economically complementary, Vladimir Yakunin, head of the Russian Railways said here Wednesday.

The Russian initiative, which was proposed by Yakunin and two scholars in March, is an ambitious plan to build a grand transportation corridor across Russia, through the entirety of Siberia.

And China's Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative is a land-based economic development framework for integrating trade and investment in countries situated on the ancient Silk Road through Central Asia, West Asia, the Middle East and Europe.

The two initiatives are aimed at not only the construction of railways, roads and energy infrastructure, but also the establishment of large economic development zones, Yakunin said at a meeting of the Business Council of the BRICS, a thriving cooperation mechanism that groups Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Russia will invite international financial institutions and manufacturers to play a role in the program, he added.

Yakunin believed that investment in infrastructure construction is a way to counterbalance the influence of economic recession, and instead of resulting in inflation, it is a special driving force to bring the economy back to normal.

Moreover, conjoining the Russian project with China's major economic development strategy will reduce Russia's dependence on the West, especially when the West has already imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine crisis. Endi