Eastern Economic Forum meant to focus on the Russian far east
Eastern Economic Forum (EEF)
Russia is a vast, sprawling country, thus its demography and economic development vary greatly from one end to the other. While the western part, near Europe, is well-equipped, the eastern tip is traditionally neglected.
Russia established the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) in 2015 with the triple goals of “developing the far east, improving bilateral relations, and also to be economical in spending for the cause.”
It has invited its international neighbors to invest in this region for development by offering a share in the harvested outcomes in return.
Additionally, the red power bloc has benefited from an increase in the number of investment agreements in the region (217 in 2017; 380 in 2021; and 2,729 in 2022).
Russia & China: paradox behind the curtains of Eastern Economic Forum (EEF)
Even though it is stated that Russia and China share an unbreakable bond, there was a time when tensions between the two countries were at their highest, particularly when it came to the Manchurian region dispute.
Both countries engaged in conflict over the Manchurian region between 1894 and 1900.
Russia has long been wary of China’s pernicious priorities, which were made clear by the experiences of other countries that share a border with China.
As the Inner Manchurian region (in China) is densely inhabited in comparison to the Outer Manchurian region (in Russia), with 100 million people as of 2010, Russia was concerned about unreported Chinese migration and subsequent unlawful encapsulation of the territory.
And due to the region’s economic repercussions from China’s refusal to accept any local workers from any foreign country and the employment of its own native labor force instead, Russia was apathetic to acknowledge any Chinese investment in the area (since the start of EEF in 2015).
Russia was stubborn about China’s rise on the Asian continent even recently because it preferred to have a single hegemonic force over the entire world.
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