| Popis: |
A strong economy is the rock of XI Jingpi’s “Chinese Dream”; however, because of the dramatically increasing energy consumption with rapid economic growth, energy deficiency leads to negative economic and societal effects in China. Therefore, in light of aggravated overdependence on energy imports, the major solution for the shortage would be searching for more energy accesses, especially for oil and natural gas. China faces several energy security problems. For example, domestically, China heavily depends on coal as thermal resources. Externally, energy accesses significantly are affected by geopolitics. However, Central Asia, a new but major center of natural resources, not just a neighbor of China, but also a crucial partner in energy cooperation capable of reducing China’s risks of importing resources from other routes, changing Chinese energy structure at present, and finally helping China overcomes the problem of energy security. Abundant resources is not just a blessing making other countries jealous, resources also becomes a curse resulting from rent-seeking, corruption, financial dislocation, etc. in Central Asian countries, and these issues hinder the long-term development in the region. From the international political economy perspective, I observe the change of bilateral trade, foreign direct investment, and major investment contracts between China and Central Asian countries to analyze if China gradually practices its energy strategy through imposing political influence in Central Asia via economic leverages. I find that China encourages energy cooperation with Central Asian countries by taking the advantage of geography and financing investment of infrastructure which both creates a promising environment of development. |
