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Alignment of Moscow, Beijing development initiatives to reshape Eurasia: Russian Deputy FM

Xinhua, September 4, 2015 Adjust font size:

The creation of a common economic space by combining the development initiatives of both Russia and China will reshape the Eurasian region, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov said Friday.

"The projects we are talking about today, namely projects intended for alignment of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) development and the Silk Road Economic Belt construction, are viewed as a large-scale and long-term strategic task that I believe will reshape the entire Eurasian region when implemented," Morgulov said at the ongoing Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held in Russia's Far East city of Vladivostok.

Practical work to implement the task has started, said the deputy minister, adding that a special bilateral working group of representatives from both sides has been created for the purpose.

The group will be split into subgroups responsible for specific areas, he added.

The Silk Road Economic Belt initiative, together with the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiative, commonly known as the "Belt and Road" initiatives, were proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013.

The initiatives bring together countries in Asia, Europe and even Africa via overland and maritime networks, with the purpose of boosting infrastructure building, financial cooperation and cultural exchanges in those regions.

The EEU is a regional organization which currently groups Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia. Its main objectives are to form a single market, create more opportunities for the free flow of goods, services, investment and labor forces within the borders of the member countries by 2025, as well as introduce a coordinated economic policy.

During Xi's visit to Moscow in early May, he and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement on the alignment of each side's development initiatives.

The EEF is an annual event proposed by Putin in order to speed up the development of eastern Russia and expand multilateral cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region. Endi