Cross-border Cooperation between Russia and China: Deep Obstacles to Development

Cross-border cooperation between Russia and China is not only an important part of bilateral cooperation, but also an incentive for the accelerated development of border territories. The study of its results over the past 30 years let us to track institutional changes in both countries, overall dynamics of their foreign trade and investment activity. The gradual fading of interest in Russian Chinese cross-border cooperation is its current state main feature, that contradicts the growing number of state programs, framework agreements and with serious political support. China is increasingly restrained in assessing the transit benefits and prospects of industrial cooperation at the local level due to the small capacity of the Russian Far East market and their infrastructural underdevelopment. Both countries demonstrate an increased level of mutual distrust, bilateral projects become increasingly inconsistent, their implementation is delayed, its results contradict the expectations placed on them. To understand the reasons for this imbalance, this article consistently analyzes the main dimensions and indicators of Russian Chinese cross-border cooperation, the features of the currently existing regulatory framework and institutional framework, as well as the results of the implementation of several government programs and major bilateral projects. On the example of successful and unsuccessful cases, an attempt is made to identify obstacles to the development of interregional cooperation at different levels, including such deep problems as resistance of local elites and underestimation of the real foreign economic features and capabilities of the regions, and compare them with the problems identified by Chinese experts.