Chinese private companies have begun to build factories in the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, as well as supply local enterprises with equipment and other goods.
The Kremlin is interested in third-party investment in the captured territories
At least ten private companies have already begun to cooperate with the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, supplying local enterprises with either equipment or other goods. This is evidenced by open sources and publications in Russian media, as well as reports from local administrations. The list of industries of interest to Chinese companies is quite wide: from energy and agricultural infrastructure to light industry.
It is known that China not only supplies equipment, but also sends its representatives to the sites to create joint ventures. Beijing’s first contacts with enterprises in the occupied parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions took place in the spring of 2023. Then, the Canton Fair import and export exhibition was held in Guangzhou. It was attended by Artem Zhikharev, Advisor to the General Director of the state-owned company Nadra with the “DPR”. According to the information we found, Zhikharev also visited factories producing mining equipment in Beijing, Zhengzhou, Jinan and Taiyuan.
China’s expansionist policy is not surprising: it is fully consistent with the strategy of the country’s Communist Party to create a “rich modernized power” from 2035 to 2050. The peaceful capture of “suspended” territories with great potential for business is one of the most positive scenarios on the path to global economic domination. It is also logical that Russia allows China as a trading partner in these territories: the Kremlin, which objectively does not have enough money to develop the captured lands, is most interested in third-party investment in them. And the active involvement of local labor is a positive bonus.
Contacts between private Chinese companies and local administrations occur at all levels
2024 has become a key year in the development of cooperation between China and the occupied East of Ukraine. In 2024, the 1st Russian-Chinese construction forum was held in Heilongjiang Province, which was attended by the head of the “DPR” Yevgeny Solntsev, as well as representatives of the “Donbass Development Corporation”. At this event, ideas for launching and modernizing metallurgical enterprises in the Donetsk region were discussed.
The Kremlin’s ambitions are even higher: it wants to join the occupied territories to the international transport corridor Europe-Western China, with a total length of 9 thousand km. In these territories, the Rostov-on-Don—Mariupol—Melitopol—Simferopol federal highway, which is called “Novorossiya”, is already being reconstructed. This 635.6 km long highway will become another tool for attracting Chinese companies to the East of Ukraine.
According to known statistics (by the end of 2023, China’s share in the total import of goods to the occupied areas of Luhansk region was 60%), contacts between private Chinese companies and local administrations occur at all levels. The Kremlin sympathizes with such cooperation, since Russia is not capable of independently restoring the life of war-torn areas. There is also mutual interest: the more China is represented in the form of business in the occupied territories, the more it will be interested in Russia continuing to control them.
