Central Asia in the coordinate system of the modern Silk Road
The countries of the Central Asian region play a key role in the implementation of the Chinese initiative of the Economic belt "Silk Road", believes the head of the research center of Xinjiang Pedagogical University Zhu Shisun. “We will talk not only about traditional energy and fossil fuels, but also about financial and credit sphere, logistics, information technologies, payment systems, as well as 4G and 5G communication technologies”, said expert in interview to Kazakh TV, commenting the prospects of future investments of Chinese partners in Central Asia. “As for logistics, the Chinese port of Lianyungang is already prepared for such sort of cooperation”, he added. Acceding to Zhu Shisun, establishing connectivity between the transport and logistics systems will allow the Central Asian countries enter the developed markets of the Asia-Pacific region. The fundamental principles of the project of the Silk Road economic belt, which is part of the megaproject “One Belt One Road”, are the following: enhancing political relations; construction of highways, railroad, pipeline mains and communication lines; expansion of currency flows by introducing a system of settlements in national currencies; cultural convergence of peoples. The reincarnated Silk Road will wrap round the entire Eurasia with the transnational corridors from western China to Europe and, logically, will strengthen the geo-economic position of Central Asia, which is at the center of free export flows and capitals.
