Сравнительная политика (Aug 2021)

Transformation of the Regional Policy of Russia and China under the Conditions of Unequal Development of Regions (1980-2020): a Comparative Historical Study

  • S. B. Makeeva

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24411/2221-3279-2021-10030
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12, no. 3
pp. 98 – 111

Abstract

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Studying the experience of the regional policy of modern Russia and China in eliminating and leveling the disproportionate phenomena of socio-economic development of individual regions provides an opportunity to compare and determine the most effective tools and conditions for combating uneven trends in spatial development, based on a historical retrospective of the internal regional dynamics of two neighboring states. The purpose of this article is a comparative and consideration of the evolution of the regional policy of Russia and China in the context of the increasing unevenness and disproportionality of the internal regional development of the two countries in the modern period of history. The complex structure of the research involves the use of a comparative historical method, a systems approach, a retrospective method. The research is based on the texts of Russian and Chinese authors, as well as documents in Chinese. The main factor that increased the unevenness of regional socio-economic development in both China and Russia was the transition to the use of market relations instruments within the framework of spatial development. A characteristic feature of the spatial development of the Russian Federation and the PRC in order to combat disproportionate trends in the situation of the regions was the preparation of spatial development strategies with the participation of the expert community. Only in the PRC were these strategies correlated with national goals for China to achieve the level of developed countries of the world by 2049, on the one hand, and on the other hand, to effectively use the comparative advantages of individual provinces, cities, etc. In Russia, the experience in developing strategies for spatial development was guided by the current state of affairs in the development of a resource-based economy, the creation of supporting regions, “locomotives” of growth. The key instruments of the regional policy of Russia and China to eliminate internal unevenness in the development of regions at different stages of regional history were projects to strengthen individual support regions, to attract various types of state support for spatial development. If in Russia financial transfers of state support were the main means of solving problems of regional inequality, then in China the system of measures for the development of regions also included private investment.

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