The transition of the Syrian conflict to the stage of political settlement raises the question of who will participate in the restoration of the war-torn Syrian economy. China's interest in participating in this process partly removes the risks for Russia of getting bogged down in economic sponsorship of Syria following the political one, but it may result in the loss of some markets.

The announcement of China's plans to increase aid to Syria in the country's reconstruction and development was made on Sunday by the Chinese ambassador to Syria, opening the reconstructed emergency room of the Al-Musavat hospital in Damascus. In recent years, China has stepped up aid to Syria in implementing humanitarian projects - building hospitals and providing food aid to refugees, the Xinhua news agency notes. The reconstruction of hospitals is part of China's program of not only humanitarian, but also technological expansion: the reconstructed hospitals will most likely operate on Chinese medical equipment.

China is a long-standing partner of Syria, before the war it supplied the Arab Republic with technologies, telecommunications equipment, the Chinese national oil company owns shares in Syrian oil companies. The restoration of the oil industry and infrastructure of Syria remains on the Chinese agenda, believes Vasily Kashin, a leading researcher at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Another potentially interesting sector is telecommunications: Huawei has shown interest in the global reconstruction of infrastructure.

The return to Syria is part of a campaign to expand China's presence in the Middle East. In January 2016, Beijing created a joint investment fund with the UAE and Qatar worth $20 billion, and a little earlier an agreement was signed with Egypt to implement infrastructure projects worth $15 billion.

The fact that a civil war is actually ongoing in Syria cannot be considered an insurmountable obstacle: China has experience working in countries where there is a risk of outbreaks of insurgent activity and political instability, in particular in Sudan and Nigeria. Special security companies, similar to private military companies, have been organized to ensure the safety of Chinese workers, Kashin notes. A significant part of the oil-producing regions is currently under the control of the Kurds, and the situation in these regions has not stabilized. Political uncertainty is more important, notes international relations expert Vladimir Frolov: Beijing is very pragmatic and will be careful with investments in a politically unstable country. On the other hand, China's increased activity gives Russia the opportunity to reduce its own burden: for Russia, this is another reason to speed up the political dialogue between Bashar al-Assad and the opposition.

Why China is returning to Syria