On the morning of April 21, 2023, the Institute for International and Area Studies (IIAS) of Tsinghua University hosted the sixth lecture of the “Russian Economy and Eurasian Economy” series both online and offline. Themed “Opening-up, Structure and Modernization,” the lecture was delivered by Xu Poling, Research Fellow and Director of the Office of Russian Economic Studies, Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). Present at the lecture were IIAS assistant researchers and doctoral students, and scholars and students from other departments of Tsinghua University, Shanghai International Studies University, South China University of Technology, etc.

Professor Xu Poling started with interpreting the five aspects of Chinese modernization. He gave an overview of Russia’s economic transformation and its national development strategy and positioning, and said that a country’s development strategy has an enormous impact on its economic modernization. It can be seen from the four stages of Russia’s transformation since 1992 that the choice of the development path determines whether a country’s modernization drive can fully mobilize internal resources and garner external support. Therefore, modernization has a political edge and is subject to strong constraints.

Then, Professor Xu elaborated on the connotation, criteria and results of economic openness, the connotation and policy tools of industrial policy, technological revolution and emerging industries, and shared his views on the results and effects of economic openness and foreign trade liberalization since the start of Russia’s transformation, the Russian ruble exchange rate and Russia’s industrial restructuring.

Finally, Professor Xu summarized and explained in detail Russia’s industrial policy and structural changes since its transformation, its import substitution policy and the complexity of its industrial structure and economic modernization.

During the Q&A session, Professor Xu answered a range of questions raised by the audience, such as Russia’s strengths and weaknesses in developing modern industries and the impact of clean energy on Russia’s current energy policy.

Xu Boling is Director of the Office of Russian Economic Studies of the Institute of Russian, Eastern European & Central Asian Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Director of the Internal Affairs Office of the Institute of Eurasian Social Development under the Development Research Center of the State Council, and Deputy Director and Research Fellow of the CASS Belt and Road Research Center. With a doctorate degree in economics, he is dedicated to research on the theory of international economics and country-specific economic research, and his research interests mainly include open economy macroeconomics and Russian economy. He has published over 100 papers in a range of academic journals, such as World Economics and Politics, International Economic Review, Russian, East European & Central Asian Studies, World Economy Studies, Journal of Social Sciences, and Northeast Asia Forum. He has also authored a number of books, including Introduction to the Political Economy of Transition, Property Rights and Corporate Governance in Transition Economies, and Interaction Between Economic Globalization and Economic Transition.

Contributed by: Wang Qin

Proofreader: Eurasion Studies research group

Typesetting editor: Cheng Yao