The article analyzes the genesis and the potential of the Chinese Program ‘Silk Road Economic Belt’, as well as limiting factors and perspectives of further development. The article explains the dialectical relationship and the dualistic nature of regionalization. The author's hypothesis is based on the idea that the dominant purpose of regional integration as a model of the active participation of the consolidated group of countries in the region in the globalization process of stratification of the world is the desire of the participating countries to take a higher position (stratum) in the global hierarchy, and eliminate the possibility of a drift towards the periphery. The author used the concept of methodological possibilities of the ‘theory of the new regionalism’ and geopolitical doctrine of Eurasianism to explain the background and development of the capacity of the Silk Road Economic Belt, that allow to evaluate the quantitative and qualitative parameters of the Silk Road Economic Belt functioning, limiting factors and perspectives for its further development.

NEET (not in employment, education, or training) unemployment is one of the newer, most relevant, and least studied modern features of the youth labor market, making it an urgent problem to be solved. The purpose of this study is to identify the barriers to creating productive employment in the youth labor market, with a view to reducing the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan. Our aim is to identify the impact of employment and unemployment parameters in the youth labor market in order to reduce the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan. The article analyzes the indicators of youth participation in the labor force, defines the features of the youth labor market based on segmentation by age, and identifies the dynamics of youth employment, including the type of economic activity. Particular attention is paid to the NEET youth category in Kazakhstan, providing a comprehensive analysis of the dynamics of the youth labor market for the period 2001–2021. The portrait of Kazakhstani youth in the category of NEET unemployment was determined based on an analysis of labor market indicators. Our study identifies the barriers to generating productive youth employment, allowing policymakers to reduce the NEET youth segment in Kazakhstan.