China’s One Belt One Road and Opportunities For Russian Businesses

Masters Program “Business and Politics in Modern Asia” at The National Research University Higher School of Economics-St. Petersburg
Scientific Seminar Report
November 29, 2017
China’s One Belt One Road and Opportunities For Russian Businesses
by Chris Devonshire-Ellis, Chairman, Dezan Shira & Associates

The Great Eurasian Partnership and its outcomes for Russia:

•     Change across Eurasia, including China and Russia, is in the process of being institutionalized, financing arranged, and new processes to create wealth adapted.

•     Free trade and a lower (VAT based) tax structural regime is starting to be implemented from China, Russia, EAEU to EU

•     New infrastructure and financial co-operations are beginning to expedite this

•     New business opportunities are beginning to emerge

•     New technologies are helping develop new markets and create new services

•     Russian businesses should start to think of themselves are “Eurasian Businesses” and explore the potential 

Entrepreneurial Summary:

•     Russian Entrepreneurs should be looking to Asia

•     Bilateral Trade Figures Illustrate Huge Growth Potential 

•     Regional Governments are coming together in terms of trade and development

•     Always smart to follow developing trends and demographics

•     Import Asian products to Russia & EAEU

•     Export EAEU and Russian products to Asia

•     In Eastern Europe, opportunities in providing European-Russian-Asian services, such as languages, re-packaging, distribution, warehousing, tourism, trade and e-commerce among others…

•     E-Commerce will change the way the world buys – so be prepared, and get involved.

•     Look for where the new global buyers are coming from.       

Anastasia Kulikova: First of all, the topic of the seminar is very relevant. As a matter of fact, I took part in The International Students Conference “The Sino-Russian Relations: Perspectives and Challenges” (Moscow) and we also discussed Chinese initiative “OBOR”, for me it was interesting to know the opinion of foreign entrepreneur and compare the information. I also found out a lot of new and useful ideas on business practice. I hope that we will continue to talk about the specifics of setting up small and medium business for foreigners in China to get practical information, which is very limited.

Darya Markova: First of all, I would like to express my thanks to you for organizing classes with highly experienced professors. It is one of the best ways to gain new knowledge quickly. The lecture of Chris Devonshire Ellis dedicated to China’s project "One Belt One Road" gave me a great pleasure because I’m very interested in Chinese policy, and it was useful to look at it from foreign perspective. Moreover Chris Devonshire Ellis has a wealth of experience in doing business in China and ASEAN that is why I am seeking opportunities to work at his companies, and I hope that he will provide us his further support and teach us practical skills.   

Anna Markova:  It is always very interesting and fruitful to have a talk with a real businessman and get extremely useful advice. Chris Devonshire-Ellis, a very enthusiastic and energetic man, has told us about his company "Dezan Shira & Associates" which advises different corporations and governments on investment strategies for China and India. Nowadays if you want to set up your own business, you should look East and understand what the consumers want to buy and what institutional voids exist. Chris has told us the very important thing: if you cannot earn money in your region, go to the other place and earn them. Of course, business requires strong analytical abilities and is not for everyone but his example inspires very much!