Page 12 - bne IntelliNews Russia Country report May 2017

“Silk Road spirit of peace and cooperation, openness and inclusiveness, mutual learning and mutual respect”.
At the same time, the sheer scale of the investments and their opening up of the world to Chinese trade is clearly also intended to reinforce China’s position as a global superpower – with the emphasis on global. In an era where the US and to a lesser extent other Western states are turning away from globalism, Beijing is stepping in and trying to reshape global trading networks to its own advantage.
Delegates at the forum included the heads of state of 29 countries, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the leaders of several Central Asian countries, as well as four prime ministers and one president from the EU member states. Alongside the politicians were the heads of the UN, IMF and World Bank.
There were also some of China’s more controversial friends – a delegation from North Korea (the state which earlier the same day embarrassed Beijing by launching a new ballistic missile test), and Rodrigo Duterte, who is leading a murderous 'war on drugs' in the Philippines.
On the other hand, there were some notable absentees, in particular China’s neighbours India and Japan, which have been wary of a project set to enhance East Asia’s rising superpower. India in particular had been angered by the planned China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a $55bn project that will run through the disputed province of Kashmir. Australia, another far eastern rival of China’s was present but reserved, with Trade Minister Steven Ciobo stressing that Canberra would act in line with Australia’s national interest despite seeing “much merit” in the Chinese initiative.
Yet countries in the region that are benefitting from Chinese investment – from Central Asia to East Africa – have become staunch supporters of the giant project.
2.5 Watcom shopping index
The Watcom shopping index continued to underperform in the first quarter of this year , turning in a score of 468.85, its worst result for May in the three years the index has been running.
The Watcom shopping index ended 2016 on a strong note with footfall in Moscow’s leading shopping malls increasing to just below the 2015 levels. But the index got off to its worst start in three years in the first weeks of 2017 , as bne IntelliNews reported last month.
The Watcom index is the most immediate and direct measure of retail activity in Russia as it measures the number of shoppers and their spend in real time using 3D camera technology placed in Moscow’s leading malls.
After the Easter holidays Russian retail always goes into a slowdown as
everyone leaves for the dacha during the good weather, but this year already looks like it will be the slowest summer for retail in the Russian capital since 2014, when the current crisis wave started, despite the first signs of an end to the recession.
12 RUSSIA Country Report May 2017 www.intellinews.com