RUSSIA AND CHINA IN CENTRAL ASIA: COOPERATION OR COMPETITION

The purpose of this article is the comparative analysis of Russian and Chinese policies in Central Asia (CA) to assess the prospects of their integration projects development in the region. Central Asia is gradually becoming an arena for the intersection of major international players’ interests and a zone for the deployment of integration associations and initiatives, such as the Eurasian Economic Union and the Silk Road Economic Belt project. Special relations between Moscow and Beijing do not exclude the possibility of contradictions between them in the region. Using the principles of the systematic approach, the article discusses the ways of "development" of the macro-region of Eurasia from the standpoint of Russia and China.