planned economy, state-owned enterprises, and different industries. The massive influx of Soviet aid within a short period replaced the function of capital accumulation essential to the development of economies and significantly reduced the time needed to acquire knowledge and technical skills, which often take practice and study of generations of workers to obtain. Also, joining the Soviet-led socialist camp won China its much-needed international support, which offset the effects of economic blockade, embargo of 400 kinds of goods imposed by the capitalist bloc and military threats. The comprehensive aid also altered the industrial landscape of the newly established country. Prior to the treaty's signing, around 70% of China’s industries were concentrated in the coastal area of the southeast, where trade was conducted in the 19th century between western powers and the Qing government. By contrast, projects aided by the Soviet Union were primarily located in the Northeast, centre, and the western region of China, which optimized the spatial distribution of China’s industries, promoting economies of the previously underdeveloped hinterland and facilitated Chinese industrialization and modernization in general. Downside of the imported Soviet model What came along with the Soviet aid was a rigid and overly centralized power structure and planned economy. From the ideological perspective, any attempt to acknowledge the positive role of market mechanism was seen as taking the capitalist road. There was also an institutional mismatch between the impressive capability of resources mobilization, massive industrial plant construction, and poor mechanisms of managing and coordinating production. The distinctive drawback inherent to the Stalin model also manifested itself in China’s planned economy. During the first five-year plan, the rapid industrialization disproportionately prioritized the defence and heavy industry, while the importance of civil and light industry was downplayed and rendered accessories. Sino-Soviet relations and the international system On the one hand, the signing of the Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance contributed to a fraternal relationship between the two sides and redressed the post-WWII balance of power between the capitalist and socialist camps. The perception of Russians as benevolent “elder brothers” guiding China on the road to modernity enjoined great popularity in Chinese society and political discourse. The treaty provisions also bolstered solidarity within the communist bloc led by the Soviet Union, strengthening it in its confrontation with the capitalist bloc and significantly contributing to the PRC’s consolidation of power and ruling legitimacy. Soviet aid to socialist countries and