Аңдатпа
This article analyses Soviet-Chinese trade and economic cooperation during the period of perestroika, emphasising the role of the Kazakh SSR in these processes. The research focuses on this topic due to the limited scholarly attention paid to the participation of the Soviet republics in foreign economic projects against a backdrop of political constraints and the intra-Soviet crisis and partial decentralisation of governance. In the mid‑1980s, economic reforms began to be implemented in the USSR, whilst China had been pursuing a policy of reform and openness since 1978; however, political relations between the two countries had not been restored, which acted as a restraining factor on trade and economic cooperation between them. Despite the intensification of Soviet-Chinese contacts during the period of perestroika, trade and economic cooperation developed unevenly and depended not only on intergovernmental agreements but also on the political climate, internal instability in the USSR and the degree of decentralisation of the management of foreign economic relations. An analysis of several economic cooperation agreements signed by the parties during this period makes it possible to clarify the priority areas and nature of cooperation between the two countries, as well as the main cooperation projects with the Soviet Union that were implemented in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Heilongjiang Province, and Jilin Province. The study is based on a wide range of sources, including both published documents of Chinese origin (official annual statistical compendia, regional chronicles, memoirs and diaries of Chinese statesmen and diplomats, and newspaper articles), as well as unpublished documents from the Central State Archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Archives of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which are being introduced into academic circulation for the first time.