“One Belt, One Road”: Northern Ambitions of China or the “Ice Silk Road”

Abstract

China's activities relating to the proclaimed One Belt, One Road Initiative continue, and today China is doing a lot to develop the Northern direction of this main transport route. Traditionally, the development of the Northern Sea Route has always been in the hands of Russia, but today, China is investing colossal resources in the implementation of the idea it suggested. Getting transport priorities right will not only help shorten the distance and time of cargos delivery but is also an opportunity for China to reinforce its positions in science, research and technology. Moreover, China is taking efforts to search for areas of reasonable investment, which will allow it to optimize the North-East transport direction as part of the "Ice Silk Road" in the future. In 2018, the "White Book", "China's Arctic Policy" based on China's participation in the development of the Arctic and then the "Blue Book" were published, as the result of its scientific research in the North and the Arctic. In these books, China’s strategy and position as of a new “Northern” power is described. On the basis of the approved priority directions of its development, China sets specific tasks and completes them in the shortest possible time, which creates additional risks for Russia as the time frame of implementing projects as well as the multilateral agreements of China do not fully conform to Russia's position. Thus, since 2013, new vessels suitable for operation in the difficult conditions of the North have been built and launched together with the COSCO Shipping Group. As a result of the intensified activities of China in the North, the transport load has increased both on the Russian shipping companies of the Northern Sea Route and on the infrastructure of the ports, whereas investment implementation rate of the projects of their reconstruction remains low. As a consequence, China offers to participate in the modernization of a number of ports on the Ice Silk Road as well as in the collaborative exploration of the North.