The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the dawn of Chinese economic reform under Deng Xiaoping in 1978 promised to produce somewhat long-term results parallels for two of the largest economies in the world. Although China and Russia were similar in the nature of the transitions they were undertaking at the time, their trajectories for future economic and political changes now diverge. Although China and post-Soviet Russia would eventually shift central economic planning toward market-based systems and global integration, the approaches and circumstances surrounding these economic shifts are completely different. Initially, Russia's implementation of "shock therapy" under Yeltsin in 1992 aimed at immediate trade liberalization and large-scale privatization, implemented quickly. Conversely, in China, more than a decade earlier, the transition to the market had begun in a piecemeal fashion, by no means independent of the existing party political apparatus, which gave the process a greater sense of stability . There is no doubt that while Russia and China had many similar goals as they emerged from eras of deeply planned economies, opposing approaches to change as well as innate geopolitical, ideological and demographic differences exacerbate their very different landscapes in the 21st century regarding society, economy. , and the government's interaction with these forces. Contrasting economic and political conditions set the stage for differences over how Russia and China emerged from communism in the late 20th century. There is no doubt that Russia and China shared (and still share) a strong inherited tradition of deference to the state. Throughout the century, both governments felt...... middle of paper ...... nations emerged from the transition to global capitalism as more robust but fundamentally different in terms of the problems they faced are faced and the governments that govern them. . Yet neither Russia nor China has fully embraced the values ​​and institutions of the Washington Consensus – the belief that the optimal economic policy is free trade, the withdrawal of government regulation, and the privatization of state-owned enterprises. . More importantly, they do not support the thesis that globalization breeds democratization. In summary, Russia and China, as post-communist nations that faced similar transitions but quickly diverged in their approaches to economic and political change, occupy very different niches as global economies and are today facing unique economic, social and political problems. to maintain sustainable growth.