many years. Based on the current security situation in Central Asia, China should increase its security assistance to Central Asian countries. On the hardware part, China should gradually help Central Asian countries to change the backwardness of equipment and facilities in Central Asia, and improve their self-defense ability, especially anti-terrorism ability. In terms of software, China should expand the training scale of national police and military personnel in Central Asia, and improve the ability of ChinaCentral Asian national security forces to coordinate their operations. Of course, on security cooperation between China and Central Asian countries, the feelings of Russia will be taken into account and its interests will never be challenged. 

The second is to continuously optimize investment structure. Increasing infrastructure investment in Central Asian countries is a priority for China and Central Asia to build “Silk Road Economic Belt”, and it is gradually changing the backwardness of infrastructure in Central Asian countries. However, according to the current economic structure and development level of Central Asian countries, the structure and scale of China’s capital and technology investment should also be continuously optimized. The machinery manufacturing, processing industry and agriculture in Central Asia is still very backward. They badly need capital investment and technological innovation. When investing in infrastructure, it is necessary to focus on people’s livelihood which is closely related to national industry in Central Asia Thus, more people in Central Asian countries could enjoy benefits of the construction of “Silk Road Economic Belt”. It will win more people’s approval to build “Silk Road Economic Belt”. Optimizing the investment structure must also consider the economic structure and situation of Central Asian countries from a macro perspective, make China’s investment more balanced and scientific, avoid repetitive investment and construction as much as possible, and prevent overheating, overcapacity of certain areas caused by short-sighted concept. 

The third is to exert the influence of soft power, strengthen and expand communication among people. Strengthening and expanding the communication among people is conducive to enhancing the political mutual trust between China and Central Asian countries, and deepening, expanding the awareness and understanding of the people of Central Asian countries on China, thus gradually eliminating misunderstandings about China and helping to weaken and eliminate breeding of the China Threat Theory”. The first is to strengthen and expand people to people exchanges. On the basis of existing exchanges and cooperation on people to people exchange, China should continue to tap the potential of Confucius Institute, making it a platform of cultural exchanges for more people, and also expand cooperation scale and scope of Chinese universities and state colleges and universities in Central Asia, especially their cooperation in innovative ways. The second is to pay attention to the role of tourism media. China should expand tourism cooperation with Central Asian countries, open up new and convenient tourist routes, simplify tourist visa procedures, and open up more border holiday tours, let more media from both sides participate in the construction of “Silk Road Economic Belt”. It is necessary to publicize and report on the results of cooperation between the two sides, not only to produce a series of special reports, but also to report on China’s development and changes and the Chinese people’s friendly feelings towards the people of Central Asian countries. The third is to give full play to the role of Chinese enterprises in the communication of hearts and minds of people. Chinese enterprises are distributed throughout Central Asia. Their words and deeds represent the image of China and directly affect the perception and attitude of Central Asian people toward China. Chinese enterprises should respect customs and habits of local people, abide by the local legal system, maintain corporate integrity, protect the ecological environment, do more social welfare undertakings, assume social responsibilities, and establish a good image of Chinese in the hearts of local people. In terms of investment, more attention should be paid to the investment and development of people’s livelihood, so that the people of Central Asian countries can share the benefits brought by the construction of “Silk Road Economic Belt”. 

The fourth is to further strengthen constructive cooperation with other major powers in Central Asia. On the basis of continuing to respect Russia’s traditional interests and realistic influences in Central Asia, China and Central Asian countries will jointly promote the multilateral economic and trade cooperation of SCO, promote the construction of a trans-Eurasian transportation corridor, and enable Russia to further develop its own transit transportation potential and obtain practical benefits. At the same time, China seeks to build constructive cooperation with the EU, Japan, South Korea, India, Turkey and even the United States in Central Asia to help Central Asian countries integrate more into the world economic system, promote the economic development and obtain wider security in Central Asia. 

Author’s information: Feng Yujun — PhD, Professor, Deputy Dean of Institute of International Studies, Director of Center for Russia and Central Asia Studies at Fudan University; yjfeng@fudan.edu.cn

For citation: Feng Yujin. China’s strategy toward Central Asia: interests, principles and policy tools. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University. International Relations, 2019, vol. 12, issue 1, pp. 23–39. https://doi.org/10.21638/11701/spbu06.2019.102