CHINA and Russia have set up a subcommittee to coordinate joint efforts toward promoting an Arctic sea route.
The initiative has been officialized by the two countries following a visit to Russia by Chinese Minister of Transport Li Xiaopeng.
Their objective is to create a joint program to facilitate a year-round 5,600km commercial shipping route along the Russian coastline from the Kara Sea to the Bering Strait. Once effective, it could offer a shorter transit time between East Asia and Europe than the Suez Canal route.
Indeed, from China, European ports could be reached by shortening the nine-day sailing time by circumnavigating the edge of Europe which borders the Arctic Circle.
With the Arctic route, Moscow could, on the other hand, strengthen its commercial ties to the east in response to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
In addition to the Chinese transport minister, the subcommittee will be led by Alexei Likhachev, Director General of Rosatom, the Russian state energy giant responsible for the Northern Sea Route project.
It will meet once a year, either in China or Russia.
Translation by Giles Foster
