China's “One belt and one road” initiative in Central Asia: challenges and obstacles to implementation

The article discusses the main issues related to the implementation of the Chinese initiative “One Belt - One Road”. The main challenges and obstacles to the successful implementation of China’s infrastructure, economic, political, social and financial projects in the Central Asian region are highlighted. It is noted that the reasons underlying the various critical views can be summarized mainly in several fundamental ones: territorial disputes among the states participating in the Silk Road revival project, mistrust between leaders, the government orientation of the initiative to the detriment of citizens’ interests, fear of Chinese intervention in Central Asian countries, imperfect labor laws there concerning local and foreign workers, difficulties in financing the initiative, strong creditworthiness of the participating countries, their desire to escape from Russia’s control at any cost, sometimes to the detriment of national economies. The main factors that should be taken into account by Beijing when planning and implementing cooperation projects in Central Asian countries are highlighted.