Not long ago, delegations from the Central Asian republics went on a ten-day business trip to the People's Republic of China. The organizers of the event, the Chinese «Association for Peace and Disarmament», having invited leading analysts and experts in the region, through numerous meetings, conversations and express tours, jointly formulated and clearly demonstrated a model of modernization of the state, using the example of the successes and achievements of the PRC in recent years decades. At the same time, the initiators of the event sought, during an exchange of views with experts in the field of analytics and in the field of modernization projects, to hear other alternative considerations about the ways and prospects of modern forms of social development.

This approach of the initiators of the event, of course, could not help but impress experts representing a variety of countries, who also had their own views and approaches to solving ongoing global political processes both at the regional level and on a global scale.

Turkmenistan was represented for the first time at this most important expert level, a kind of «brainstorming» on issues of modernization of society, by employees of the Scientific Centre for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country.

Despite the rather short period of its existence, the center and its employees, with their scientific forecasts, calculations and reports, have already managed to establish themselves on the positive side in various aspects of regional policy. Surely, this is precisely what explained the invitation of Turkmen specialists to the Chinese forum of experts on modernization aspects of social development. In addition to analysts from Turkmenistan, political scientists and experts from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and other countries took part in the forum.

In accordance with the program of stay in the PRC, political scientists and experts visited Beijing, Shanghai, Yining, Khorgos and Urumqi. Numerous meetings and conversations began with a visit to the Chinese Federation for the Support and Marketing of Cooperatives, where reports were heard on the importance of these very structures and elements for the PRC economy. It would not be superfluous to note here that specialists in the CA region found the problems of developing the cooperative movement and marketing issues familiar from the first years of independence in the development of market relations in their countries. It is probably no coincidence that following this, during a meeting with the director of the Chinese Centre for Economic Cooperation, Yang Sung, he stopped in detail and spoke in his speech about the features and successes of the development of the PRC economy at the present stage, based, among other things, on a significant contribution to this is a cooperative movement.

    As a result of this, according to the organizers, at the meeting with the participation of the Vice-President of the «Association for Peace and Disarmament», Mr. Yu Hongjun, and the Deputy General Director of the Association, Ms. Cheng Xiaohan, general discussions took place related to the development and interaction of the economies of the countries of the CA region and China. In particular, issues of energy, agriculture, trade and transport and communication relations were discussed and touched upon. Specialists from Turkmenistan, in their speeches at the meeting, focused the attention of listeners on the potential and advantages of Turkmenistan in the fuel and energy, transport and logistics, and humanitarian and cultural capabilities of the country.

As they say, during the discussions there was something to take note of. Firstly, the economic development model of the PRC is distinguished by the fact that it is largely focused on industrial exports. Secondly, government participation has a significant impact on economic development at various levels. Specially created economic zones also make a positive contribution in this regard. And, of course, it was almost unanimously noted that for successful economic development it is necessary to maintain an environment of stability in the country.

The fact that any project, no matter how ideal it is, largely depends on who exactly undertakes its implementation and execution. This was especially emphasized during a meeting at the Shanghai Administrative Institute, where a conversation took place with the heads of the administration and the faculty of the university. Here we have already discussed the preparation of the necessary highly qualified personnel for the implementation of planned and planned projects on a large scale, including on a state scale. The hosts of the event expressed a proposal of readiness to establish close relations with similar educational institutions and academies of the countries of the CA region. It became obvious and clear that the multi-stage, well-thought-out step-by-step system built by the Chinese at the state level is aimed at comprehensively taking into account the factors influencing the development of the country’s economy.

As a practical example of the effectiveness and benefit of organizing free trade zones, the hosts of the event showed such an area in the Chinese-Kazakh border in the city of Khorgos in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the PRC to experts in the CA region.

    During the stay of specialists from the CA region, the work of the forum was almost everywhere accompanied by cultural events that demonstrated the national characteristics, life and culture of the multinational population of the PRC.

With all the notable successes of the Chinese economy, the choice of forms and methods of modernization, it should be noted that many Chinese scientists and experts themselves say that there is no such ideal example of modernization that can simply be copied. Leading countries provide examples to learn from, but not to follow. Modernization of the state and economy takes different forms, is carried out according to different models and in different modes. The country's choice of its path is largely determined by its heritage, the significance of which is seen to be extremely diverse. And it follows from this that a people with a rich history has every opportunity to create a bright future.

Shiri Shiriyev,
Director of the Scientific Centre for Strategic Studies of the Institute of International Relations of the MFA of Turkmenistan