Russia and China to deepen cooperation in the Arctic

In a joint statement issued Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin made several references to the Arctic.

“The sides agreed to continue consistently intensifying practical cooperation for the sustainable development of the Arctic”, reads the press release.

They also mentioned their desire to intensify “practical cooperation between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and China in various areas” and promote “greater interconnectedness between the Asia Pacific and Eurasian regions”. The EAEU is an economic union of post-Soviet states located in Eastern Europe, Western Asia and Central Asia. It consists of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.

Through the EAEU, China and Russia say they want to pursue the building of “the Greater Eurasian Partnership in parallel and in coordination with the Belt and Road construction”. The Greater Eurasian Partnership envisions mutual influence of China and Russia spanning a region from East Asia to the borders of the European Union.

To achieve such cooperation, both countries are counting on the Belt and Road Initiative, a Chinese project launched in 2013 to strengthen trade ties with the rest of the world. It devotes significant spending to infrastructure development in dozens of countries around the world. The project also involves the Arctic, where China wants to develop shipping lanes opened up by global warming.

“China hopes to work with all parties to build a ‘Polar Silk Road’ through developing the Arctic shipping routes,” stated a 2018 document released by the State Council Information Office, according to Reuters.

This idea of developing Arctic sea routes was also included in Friday’s joint statement.