Her interests lie in the fields of political economy for development, China’s foreign economic policy, and sustainable development in Eurasia. In her doctoral project, Oyuna investigates how China’s Belt and Road Initiative, a regional development and infrastructure building platform, is being institutionalized in Beijing and implemented in light of the economic, political, and social realities of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.

Originally from Siberia, Oyuna completed her Bachelor’s in Foreign Languages (English, Chinese) at Buryat State University in Russia and a Master’s degree in Modern East Asian Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt in Germany. After that, she worked in the field of international development interning at UNESCO Bangkok, managing an EU-funded project for Central Asia, and running communications at the International Organization of Folk Art (IOV). During her doctoral research fieldwork, Oyuna was affiliated with Peking University in China and KIMEP University in Kazakhstan, she was also a visiting fellow at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) and the University of California at Berkeley.