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Turkic countries are located are significant areas
of target for
investment and initiative policies. In parallel with its
economic growth, China has increased its military power,
which is perceived by its neighbors that are allied with the
USA and as a result, Eastern and Southeastern countries
formed an illegal ‘Pacific Bloc’ led by the USA. China has
been looking for alternative routes on land against this
entrapment on sea and the ocean. In this respect, China’s
new president Xi Jinping has launched a project called “New
Silk Road” or “One Belt, One Road” which aims to bring
new investments along. It’s important to understand for
Turkish intelligentsia and bureaucrats as the project is
planned to cover an area which is mostly populated by
Turkic countries.
Key words: New Silk Road, One Belt One Road,
China, Turkic World
Introduction:
China is a far eastern country with a 3000-year-old
recorded history and a sustainable tradition of civilization.
The People’s Republic of China (PRC, 1949--) is a multi-
national country governed with Chinese-model socialist
market economy while accommodating the world’s largest
population (around 1.4 billion) and Asia’s largest with a
surface area of 9,600,000 km². China has adopted a market
economy from the West and merged it with Chinese
traditional government and organizational structure, creating
a Chinese-model socialist system. It has a “multi-party”
political system that is unique to China with minimal
ideological conflict and it strives for modernization while
being challenged by many social, cultural and ethnic
problems.
Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997) who came to power as
the leader of CCP (1978) as a result of several interventions
after Mao Zedong’s death (1976), legendary leader of
Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the name of which is used
less and less every day now, initiated China’s opening to the
global economy and systemic reform process. “Reform and
Opening / 改革开放” process that was initiated in 1979 had
started China’s new industrialization and economic
development process (Karluk, 2001: 267). In this period,
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development model implemented by China was mostly
regional and it aimed to develop coastal cities and increase
people’s welfare level in those areas. Accordingly,
aforementioned regions enjoyed an increased industrial
production and swift economic growth. These regions are
regarded as early-developed or previously-developed
regions
(Jin, 2011; Sun 2009; Hu, 2005). However, China’s central
and western regions which constitute a larger section of the
country are consistently left behind or neglected due to
implementation of different strategies on economic
development than the ones for the
central and coastal regions
(Lai, 2002: 436-438). Another point to take into
consideration is that minorities that make up 10% of China’s
population according to the official figures live in the
aforementioned underdeveloped areas. These regions where
minorities live cover 65% of the country’s total surface area
and are called “Autonomous Administrative Divisions of
China/
少数 民族 地区
(Karluk, 2009, 66). These regions
much less developed than China’s coastal and eastern parts
in every field.
At the turn of the 21st century, Chinese central
government was obliged to invent new strategies and
policies in order to end regional differences and income
inequalities, to minimize various global crises, to revive
domestic markets, to find new routes to break away from the
pasific bloc led by the USA and taking shape as a result of
ongoing dispute with neigborboring countries in
the East and
the Southeast, to make economy grow and guarantee
constant industrialization by acquiring new energy routes
and resources. In this respect, Chinese Politburo decided to
implement “China’s Western Development” project
domestically and “New Silk Road” project internationally.
“China’s Western Development /
西部大开发
” was
initiated as a state policy in March 2000 (Lai, 2002: 450)
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The core aim of the aforementioned policy is described on
the official web page of the China’s Western
202
For
a
more
detailed
information
on
this
topic:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Western_Development;
http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%A5%BF%E9%83%A8%E5%A4%A7
%E5%BC%80%E5%8F%91
http://baike.baidu.com/view/13834.htm, accesss: 10.02.2017