Problemy Dalnego Vostoka

The March 2025 regular (3rd) session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) reviewed and summarized the PRC’s socio-economic and legislative developments in 2024. Over the past year, the NPC Standing Committee (NPCSC) enacted six new laws: the Tariff Law, the Law on Academic Degrees, the Rural Collective Economic Organizations Law, the Preschool Education Law, the Energy Law, and the Value-Added Tax Law. Moreover, it amended 15 laws, while the Organic Law of the State Council of the PRC was amended by the NPC. In total, 22 legislative initiatives were adopted. Among these, two new laws are particularly noteworthy: the Energy Law and the Value-Added Tax Law, both of which are designed to support the country’s ongoing economic reforms. The Energy Law promotes sustainability in the energy sector, encourages comprehensive development of alternative energy sources, and sets the goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2060. The Value-Added Tax Law is a key component of the country’s fiscal policy. It governs the collection of value-added tax — the principal source of tax revenue in China. The decline in VAT revenue in 2024 compared to 2023 may reflect deeper challenges within the Chinese economy. That is why the adoption of this targeted law was, and remains, essential for addressing these challenges and improving both the tax system and the broader socio-economic landscape. Looking ahead, the NPC is working on several significant legislative initiatives. Among the most important are the Environmental Code, the Law on Financial Stability, and the National Unification Promotion Law.

This article examines the key stages in the development of political relations between Russia and Thailand, with a particular focus on the dynamics of bilateral cooperation in the 21st century. The analysis is situated within the broader framework of global international processes, which enables the identification of a significant correlation between the trajectory of Russia—Thailand relations and shifts in the international/regional order. During the Cold War, Thailand was aligned with the anti-Soviet bloc, which posed a major obstacle to the establishment of normal bilateral ties. The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the subsequent reduction in global tensions during the 1990s facilitated the establishment of more constructive relations. In the 21st century, Russian—Thai political cooperation has demonstrated sustained progress, expanding into new domains and increasingly shaped by geopolitical considerations. External pressure and partial international isolation following the events of 2014 — namely, Russia’s reunification with Crimea and the Thai military coup — acted as catalysts for deeper political dialogue and closer collaboration, particularly in the realm of security. The article argues that the current trajectory of bilateral political engagement is characterized by a degree of strategic resilience. Despite Russia’s ongoing Special Military Operation and Thailand’s transition from military to civilian governance, the continuity of relations suggests the emergence of an elite-level consensus in Thailand regarding the long-term value of engagement with Russia.

The article analyzes problems of China’s social and economic development in 2024 and tasks, which were proposed by the First Session of the National People's Congress in March, 2025. In recent years, the average annual GDP growth rate has been about 5% per year. At this rate, China's GDP could reach 250 trillion yuan by 2035, or about $35 trillion at the current dollar exchange rate. In July, 2024 the Third Plenum of the 20th Convocation summed up the results of the economic reform, which began in 1978 and took a decision about a new stage of economic reform, which was called as “deepening economic reforms”. In the article the author on the base of a large volume of statistical data analyzed the results of social and economic development of the PRC in 2024 and made a forecast of economic development in 2025. The author made a conclusion, that by the end of the 14-th Five Year Plan China will strengthen its economic potential, could fulfill slogan “Made in China — 2025” and noticeably promote living standards of the Chinese people. According to the author, the Chinese economy is facing a number of complex challenges that threaten the implementation of China's socio-economic development plans through 2035 and 2049. These challenges include a huge population of over 1.4 billion people, a growing labor shortage, a shortage of energy resources, and worsening environmental problems as the economy grows. However, during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), Beijing has already reached new economic frontiers and, apparently, will be able to realize the "Made in China 2025" slogan by the end of 2025, and trade and economic ties with China will be of decisive importance for many countries around the world. By the end of the 14th Five-Year Plan, China will strengthen its economic power, gradually catching up with the American economy in terms of its scale, and the standard of living of the country's population will continue to improve significantly.

The article is devoted to the current issues of regional digitalization within the framework of permanent participants of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization for peaceful purposes and the SCO summit in Tianjin in 2025, the slogan of which is "Promoting the Shanghai Spirit: SCO in Action". In the context of digital globalization and taking into account the opportunities, risks and challenges in the development of regional digitalization of the SCO member countries, the authors of the article clarify the directions and prospects for cooperation between them in the context of accelerating the construction of Internet infrastructure, creating regional digital platforms; security of the development of the digital economy, strengthening cooperation in the field of creating an industry-wide technological alliance for cooperation to promote interaction in the digital spheres between the member countries of this association. The purpose of the analysis is to position the directions and results of the development of regional digitalization of the economies of the SCO technological alliance for peaceful geopolitical purposes. The objectives of the study were qualitative assessments, firstly, of the digital transformation and development of the digital economy in the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the SCO as a unique platform for the development of the digital economy of its member countries; secondly, the role of China in activating the digitalization of the economies of the SCO member states in the context of the digital silk road; thirdly, the importance of the SCO digital forums for the peaceful development of global digitalization; fourthly, the special position of India's cooperation, drawn into the "artificial intelligence race", in the field of regional digitalization within the SCO. The profound result of the study was the conclusion of the article that in the era of turbulence, accelerating scientific and technological revolution, global digitalization, the "artificial intelligence race", the technological sovereignty of the country and the region is the basis of political sovereignty both at the national, as evidenced by China's status as one of the global digital powers, and at the regional levels.

Russian-South Korean trade and economic cooperation has faced serious challenges in recent years and continues to be on a negative track. After achieving record levels of bilateral trade in 2021, opportunities for further economic cooperation continue to shrink, influenced by political factors. The main reasons for this were the Republic of Korea's accession to the anti-Russian sanctions of the collective West in connection with the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, as well as the introduction by Seoul of an export control list against Russia and the Republic of Belarus. These measures limited the supply of a number of goods and complicated financial transactions, thereby creating serious obstacles to trade. However, despite the current circumstances, business circles of both countries are interested in continuing the partnership and are looking for new ways to do this. One of the important aspects of this process is that South Korean companies are seeking to occupy the vacant niche after a leave of European companies, in particular in such areas as the supply of cosmetics, textiles and food products, where they are in great demand among Russian consumers. If previously the emphasis was on raw materials, now other categories of goods such as the agro-industrial complex, entertainment content and other promising goods are actively included in the trade turnover. This article analyzes the current situation in trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Korea, explores the ways and opportunities for activating such partnership in the context of global challenges and existing sanctions pressure.

The article presents a historiographical review of the research of Russian scientists on the topic of the Chinese front of World War II. The author of the article does not set the task of a detailed analysis of all Russian publications, but only seeks to give a general assessment of the literature published from the 1930s to the present day. The article highlights four periods of research work (the war years before the formation of the PRC, 1950–1960, the period 1965–1988 and the current stage after the normalization of Russian-Chinese relations 1989–2025). The author names the main features of each period of research, assessing the results achieved. The article primarily examines the military actions of the opposing sides and the armed resistance of the Chinese people to the Japanese occupiers as the subject area. At the same time, it takes into account important political, international and other aspects of a wide range of events in the context of World War II. Therefore, the concept of "Chinese front of World War II" is conditional, since it is smaller than such a complex and large-scale phenomenon as "China's war against Japanese aggression". The article, based on a comparative analysis of Russian historiography of different periods of time, concludes that a positive aspect of modern Russian research is, on the one hand, adherence to the principle of continuity in relation to the best achievements of Soviet authors, and on the other hand, the desire to re-evaluate, on the basis of a wide range of sources, the previous positions of historians that have not stood the test of time. The author of the article emphasizes that, despite the rather extensive domestic historiography on the topic of the Chinese front of World War II, the task of continuing this work in Russia on the basis of modern methodologies and research methods remains relevant, taking into account that new narratives are actively promoted in the PRC in assessing the historical events of World War II.

The publication is dedicated to the statistician, economist and ethnographer Vladimir Alekseevich Kormazov, who first conducted field research in Central Asia, then in northeast China, and repeatedly carried out complex studies and expeditions (1922–1935). His responsibilities included accounting for the commercial and industrial activities of the western line of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER). For several years, he was engaged in research in Bargi, the western part of the Heilongjiang province of China. In the monograph "Barga" he described the history of this region rich in natural resources, its climate, administrative structure, population composition, communications, main settlements, and economic structure. This material was then published in Chinese and Japanese. As a member of the Society for the Study of the Manchurian Region (OIMK), he was engaged in archaeological excavations and collected ethnographic collections for the Harbin Regional Museum. Kormazov was one of the first to describe the life of the Russian Three Rivers region. The ethnography of northwest China occupied an important part of his research. He not only described in detail the occupations of Chinese peasants, but also drew attention to the life of the indigenous peoples of the regions that bordered Russia. He studied the social life of the Chinese and Mongols, customs, collected fairy tales, songs and legends, as well as household items. The article notes the reasons for his emigration to the USA, his connections with emigration cultural figures I.I. Serebrennikov (Tianjin) and A.S. Lukashkin (San Francisco). In Seattle, Kormazov completed several important manuscripts, the most valuable being “Honghuzi Partisans in Manchuria, Korea, Mongolia and China.” The basis for the publication was the collection of V.A. Kormazov, stored in the Museum of Russian Culture (MRK) in San Francisco, also private collections.

Disciplines are the center of various aspects of knowledge production, talent cultivation, and social services organized by universities. Since the State Council Academic Degrees Committee included Regional Studies as a first level discipline in 2022, the Regional Studies has entered a new historical period. The leap forward development of Regional Studies in China reflects the characteristics of the time, such as the deepening interaction between China and the world, the need to cover more countries and regions in formulating national strategies, and the joint construction of a community with a shared future with other countries. The construction of Regional Studies in China has Chinese characteristics: Regional Studies are disciplines that serve national needs and provide knowledge supply for national strategies. The combination of Regional Studies’ development and disciplinary construction is a breakthrough point in the construction of China's independent knowledge system. There is great potential for cooperation between China and Russia in the construction of Regional Studies in China.