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MOSCOW, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Faced with Western sanctions and weak global commodity prices, Russia has to shift its reliance on the traditional export economy to new opportunities, which require a change of its growth model and relate to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative.
Russia's vast Far Eastern region has become a forerunner in taking advantage of the alignment of the development initiatives of both countries, said Nikita Maslennikov, head of the Finance and Economy Department at the Russian Institute of Contemporary Development.
Without infrastructure construction, "the development of the Far East would be groundless," therefore Russia needs to enforce cooperation with China in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, Maslennikov said, noting that Russia and China enjoy the promising prospect of improving infrastructure in the region.
As an important transit station on the route of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Russia, in its Far East region, shares a border of over a thousand kilometers with China.
The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, refers to the Silk Road Economic Belt that links China with Europe through Central and Western Asia by inland routes, and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road connecting China with Southeast Asia, Africa and Europe by sea routes.
While China is promoting the Belt and Road Initiative, Russia is promoting the development of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), which currently groups Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia.
Enjoying profound friendly ties, Russia and China both wish to promote domestic and regional prosperity.
Both countries have set a series of goals to further socioeconomic development. Russia has adopted a strategy leading to 2020 that pays special attention to innovative development, while China intends to build a moderately prosperous society in all respects by 2020.
During his visit to Moscow in May 2015, President Xi signed an agreement with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on aligning the Belt and Road Initiative with the EAEU.
Since Russia desperately needs to ease the current pressure on its economy, China can play an active role in helping Russia through plenty of projects such as building railways, border checkpoints and a cross-border aerial ropeway -- broad cooperation that Russia wants to continue and expand.
The road corridors under construction, a high-speed railway and highway under design, which Russia is promoting in the Primorsky region to connect with China's Northeast provinces, are important parts of the Silk Road Economic Belt, said Vladimir Miklushevsky, governor of the Primorsky Territory. The corridors can bridge Asia and Europe and facilitate the exchange of cargo and people in the area, thus greatly pushing forward the global economy.
According to an estimate by the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East, the promoted road corridors linking Russia and China will significantly raise the amount of cargo transferred in the free port of Vladivostok, with an expectation of nearly 45 million tons of cargo from China till 2030.
