THE MAIN OBSTACLES TO DEEPENING ECONOMIC AND TRADE COOPERATION BETWEEN CHINA AND THE EURASIAN ECONOMIC UNION IN THE CONTEXT OF THE “BELT AND ROAD” INITIATIVE

The article analyzes the development of trade and economic cooperation between China and the EEU countries. The special attention is paid to the main obstacles to deepening economic and trade cooperation between China and the alliance countries.  The authors conditionally divide them into external and internal barriers and describe them in detail in the article. The authors also considered the consequences of the entry into force of the «Agreement on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and the EEU» in 2017. The purpose of the study is to analyze the development trends and identify the features of China's economic and trade relations with the EEU countries. Since the official establishment of the Eurasian Economic Union in early 2015, it has become the main topic of study for many researchers. The authors focus on the analysis of trade relations and trade prospects for the development of relations. China is the second largest foreign partner of the Eurasian Economic Union. The understanding of the EEU and China’s trade structure will have a certain impact on future trends in the development of trade between the two sides. The empirical research methods, the search and analysis of themass media information, the analysis and comparison of data, the methods of comparison and generalization were used in the work. The authors come to the conclusion that China's cooperation with the Eurasian Economic Union is currently the main corridor for China to expand its export market. All five countries of the Union are important partners for China in the construction of ”The Belt and Road”. They have strong economic complementarity and the great potential for trade cooperation with China. In the context of “The Belt and Road” initiative, China should perceive the entry into force of the “Agreement” as an opportunity to continuously promote innovative mechanisms of economic and trade cooperation and increase the level of economic and trade cooperation with the countries of the alliance.