Process Approach as a Methodological Basis for Economic Integration of the Trans-Baikal Territory and the Adjacent Territories of China

The article proves the necessity of international economic integration between the Trans-Baikal region and the adjacent territories of China. From the authors point of view, the development of regional integration will allow the region to realize its competitive advantages. The possibility of increasing regional integration between the Trans-Baikal territory and China is based on complementarity and interdependence of the economic potentials of both sides. At the same time, the existing national differences at the level of development of the adjacent socio-economic systems need a common system of goals, balance of priorities in their achievement, which, in its turn, implies a coherent integration policy between the two regions - the Trans-Baikal territory and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. At the same time, lack of unified theoretical and methodological basis for international regional integration restrains the formation of such a policy. In the context of multiple and ambiguous scientific approaches to the study of the international system, it is proposed to consider the «theory of relationships», by Professor Qin Yatsin, as the scientific basis for international regional integration, which proves the need and the possibility of harmonizing relationships between participants of international exchanges. From the author's point of view, the practical implementation of the «theory of relations» is possible within the framework of the process approach, which implies the interaction of participants of international integration in achieving overall results. The focus of the participants of the process makes it possible to organize their interaction in the form of complementarity, which means not only better results, but also harmony in their mutual relations in a long-term context. The use of the process approach as a methodological basis for regional integration allows to balance the interests of the sides of integration, to identify their priorities. The proposed paradigm of international relations is supplemented by the authors classification of the processes, the assessment of their impact on the results of integration. It is shown that the interaction of the processes is sufficiently stable, predictable, manageable, hence the use of the process approach in the development of international regional integration seems very promising. Process approach allows to form various scenarios of international integration, based on different composition, results and nature of the interacting processes.