UNN scholars present their paper at the conference “Modern Chinese State”

On March 25, Maria Gorbunova, Head of the Department of World Economy and Customs at the UNN Institute of Economics, Leading Researcher at the UNN Institute of International Relations and World History, and Igor Komarov, Senior Researcher at the Lobachevsky Agency for Research and Information, took part in the annual all-Russian research conference “Modern Chinese State”. The event was held by the Centre for the Study of Contemporary China at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Lobachevsky University scholars made a report on “Strategic resource capacity of the People's Republic of China in the field of rare earth metals supply”. This research is conducted under the state assignment of the Ministry of Higher Education and Science of the Russian Federation.

“We are testing in this study our theory of strategic resource capacity of great powers, which Igor Komarov and I have been conceptualizing for several years now, based on the use of big data of interstate statistics. Our research was supported by the UNN Competitiveness Programme and by the Russian Science Foundation. Previously, we looked at traditional competitive advantages related to energy and food, which correlates with the classical theories of international relations of the mid-20th century. Now we want to understand how the great powers compete in the promising areas of electronics and “green goods”. The leader in this field is the People's Republic of China whose advantages stem from its reserves and processing of rare-earth metals,” said Maria Gorbunova.