Mongolian Prime Minister Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene announced on Wednesday that Ulaanbaatar had agreed on 33 projects linked to an ambitious large-scale economic corridor between Russia and China, with the project set to coordinate initiatives spearheaded by the Eurasian Economic Union, China with its One Belt One Road, and Mongolia's own Steppe Road initiative.
"The list of 33 projects included in the three countries' economic corridor program has been agreed by the relevant Mongolian government departments. First on the list is the construction of a new railway between the major border checkpoints at Altanbulag on the border with the Russian Federation and Zamyn-Udd near the Chinese border. It will be a very important starting point for the creation of an economic corridor between the three countries," Luvsannamsrai Oyun-Erdene said, speaking on the sidelines of the SCO Summit, where he met with Prime Minister Mishustin and Chinese Premier Li Qiang.
Situated at the very core of the Eurasian heartland, and sandwiched between Russia to the north and China to the south, Mongolia has been a prime location for Europe-Asia trade for millennia – a fact recognized by ancient Chinese imperial dynasties going back to the Ancient Silk Road of the early modern era, and traders and nomadic tribesman as far as the Neolithic period.
The modern Steppe Road ("Taliin zam" in Mongolian) initiative was conceived in 2014 – the same year that the Russia-Mongolia-China negotiations format was created, with Ulaanbaatar envisioning "Five Great Passages" requiring $50 billion in investment, including:
a 997 km-long transnational expressway linking Russia and China
1,100 km of electrified rail infrastructure
an expansion of the existing Trans-Mongolian Railway from Sukhbaatar in the north to Zamyn-Uud
construction of oil and gas pipelines from Altanbulag to Zamyn-Uud.
The Steppe Road isn’t just about transport infrastructure, but part of a Mongolian national development strategy which also seeks to invigorate the country’s telecom and tourism sectors, and boost its mining and energy potential.
The project broadly aligns with Russia’s Trans-Eurasian Corridor Initiative. In July, Presidents Putin and Khurelsukh raised the subject of international logistics and transit in a meeting on the sidelines of an SCO Summit in Astana.
In China, the Steppe Road is seen as “highly consistent” with Beijing’s trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, with officials and media saying the project can “guide…win-win cooperation between the two countries.”
Researchers have pointed to the Steppe Road's good prospects for success, with China able to provide the capital, technology, labor and infrastructure construction know-how to see the ambitious initiative through to completion.