Китай - Южный Кавказ: Сотрудничество в транспортно-логистических узлах «Пояса и пути»

Introduction

During the Soviet Union (SU) era, relations between the countries of the South Caucasian (SC) - Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia and the China were weak and mediated by the Kremlin. Political, economic, and cultural relations between China and SC countries began to improve only after 1991 [Hovhanesian, Manasyan 2014, P. 6]. Armenian-Chinese contacts at the state level began on December 1991, after the official recognition of the independence of the Republic of Armenia (RA) by the People's Republic of China (PRC). Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on April 1992 [Посольство КНР в РА 2010; Мокрецкий 2012, С. 165]. Georgia and PRC signed the Protocol on the establishment of diplomatic relations on June 1992 [MFA of Georgia 2013]. Diplomatic relations between China and Azerbaijan were established in April 1992, a year after the PRC recognized the republic's independence [Амелина, Бахревский, Тасиц 2013, C. 122].

Until the 2000s, China occupied a low profile on the political and economic map of the region. To strengthen its position in the region, Beijing placed its main stake on its most competitive external resource - economic penetration with the deployment of the potential for progressive expansion in domestic markets. Despite this, the indicators of China's economic cooperation with the SC countries were much more modest than their trade and economic relations with Russia, the US or the EU [Агаджанян 2013].

However, since the early 2000s, trade and economic relations between the SC countries and China have noticeably intensified. According to Chinese `customs` statistics, between 2001 and 2020 trade with the `region` increased from US$ 25 million to US$ 3.7 billion, or from US$ 1.1 billion in 2009 to almost US$ 4 billion in 2020. However, China's place in the ranking of the largest trading partners of the SC countries was not very high. In 2020, China was only the 4th largest trading partner for all three countries of the SC combined, and for Azerbaijan and Georgia separately (after the EU, Russia and Turkey). For Armenia alone, China was the 3rd largest trading partner, after Russia and the EU. At the same time, the share of China in the trade turnover of the SC countries ranges from a minimum of 7.5% in Azerbaijan to a maximum of 13.6% in Armenia, and is slowly but steadily growing [Лексютина 2022, С. 59]. At the same time, all republics have a negative trade balance. Chinese imports are several times higher than exports from the SC. [Воробьева 2020, С. 662].

China's investment activity in the `region` is extremely low. According to Chinese official statistics, for the period from 2014 to 2019 China's accumulated foreign direct investment (FDI) in the countries of the SC annually did not exceed US$ 700 million. Many of the investments promised by Beijing, including those related to the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), have not arrived in the region, and many announced joint projects remain at the planning stage. However, one must also take into account the fact that there are a small number of innovative high-tech companies or international brands in the SC that could be of interest to Chinese investors [Лексютина 2022, С. 61-71].

In general, in relations with the countries of the SC, Beijing adopted a "cluster approach" rather than an individual partnership, developing relations with all SC countries at the same level, using the common toolkit, considering mainly economic, not political factors [Skiert-Andrzejuk 2018, P. 85]. In their turn, all countries in the region reaffirm their commitment to the “One China” policy on Taiwan, Tibet and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The PRC avoids involvement in regional conflicts (Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh), calling for the resolution of territorial disputes exclusively through political consultations and diplomatic negotiations in accordance with the UN (United Nation) Charter and international law [Мокрецкий 2016, C. 151]. The PRC does not prohibit its partners from establishing private economic ties with Taiwan, emphasizing private entrepreneurship and not being burdened by any political obligations [Воробьева 2020, С. 653]. Therefore, in turn, Beijing implements business projects in the fields of winemaking in Abkhazia, mineral exploitation in Karabakh and tourism in Abkhazia [Lambert 2018].