China and Russia agree to boost competitiveness of Arctic shipping route
Economist says appeal is likely to grow as traditional routes, such as the Red Sea and Strait of Hormuz, become riskier
China and Russia have signalled their willingness to boost the competitiveness of the Arctic shipping route, which is set to become more important as traditional routes between Asia and Europe remain vulnerable to disruption.
Transport Minister Liu Wei and Alexey Likhachev, the director general of Rosatom – the Russian state nuclear company responsible for managing the Northern Sea Route – pledged in a video meeting on Thursday to strengthen cooperation on the route.
Liu’s ministry said he expressed hopes that China and Russia would focus on “expanding the scale of shipping … and continuously enhancing the competitiveness of the Arctic shipping route to contribute to the economic and trade development of both countries, as well as the stability of regional logistics supply chains”.
Likhachev said Russia was willing to enhance port services for vessels transiting through the route and deepen training for polar crew members, the ministry said.
The North Sea Route – spanning Russia’s Arctic coast from the Barents Sea to the Bering Strait – used to be mostly impassable, but the melting of polar ice due to climate change and advances in icebreaker technology are making it more accessible.
“Its appeal is likely to grow as traditional routes, such as the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, become riskier,” Alicia Garcia-Herrero, a senior fellow at Bruegel, a think tank based in Brussels, said in a report released on Monday. She is also French investment bank Natixis’ chief Asia-Pacific economist.